Oliver knew that Percy had picked out his best clothes. They were freshly tailored, paid with the money he had gotten from his part-time job at Hogsmeade. A simple but elegant suit with a shirt ironed to his best abilities, a red bow-tie with hand-sewn gold lines in it. The material of the jacket and pants were dark maroon that could be mistaken for black from afar. But Oliver knew that attire inside and out. He had seen Percy try it on in their dorm so many times and even had the opportunity to rate certain ideas Percy brought up when putting it together.
Penelope was also beautiful. Oliver had the chance to see her once when the group was at Hogsmeade together in hopes of finding the right clothes. They were in Hoppin’s Formals and Penelope was in the process of trying on her 8th choice that day when Audrey found a long, shiny blue dress.
“This is the dress,” she had said. “This is what’s calling out to me.”
Audrey was a little bit more hesitant to pick clothes but Marcus ended up finding a white dress for her with a square neck top, puffed sleeves and a skirt reaching down to her ankles. She had agreed to buy it after finding some silver jewellery that matched the overall vibe of the fabric. Marcus and Oliver didn’t really care much, they chose the first clothes they saw that fit. It was only Percy who was adamant in choosing something special, something unique.
“I want to look good for you, Oliver,” Percy explained without an ounce of embarrassment. “And I also want to look good for myself.” it was a reasoning none of them could argue with, especially after seeing how determined Percy was.
An hour before the big dinner in the Great Hall, Penelope was desperately trying to pull up the zip on the back of her dress.
“Marcus, help me out here!” she whined in a bit of frustration, and Marcus appeared behind her in a second, quickly doing the job. He took a moment to appreciate how absolutely gorgeous his friend was.
“You’re magnificent,” he said, his tone a bit softer than usual. There was a sort of warmth on his face that was unusual for his everyday stone-expression. Penelope turned around to give him a small smile, then reached towards him and adjusted his bow-tie.
“You don’t look half-bad either,” she quipped. “Though I miss your hair.”
“It’s a buzz-cut. I still have hair,” Marcus replied. He reached up to run a hand through it to demonstrate. Penelope shook her head with a dramatic sigh.
“That’s not hair, that’s the-… the memoir of it!” she exclaimed. “Merlin, it’s so horrendous, I just can’t keep to myself.”
“Why? I think it is quite good,” Audrey spoke up from the doorway. She was already wearing her dress. Half of her hair was up, while half was down. There was a braid on one side but the other still looked unfinished. “How are you guys doing?”
“I still have to do my make up,” Penelope said.
“Me too,” Marcus agreed with a nod, then gestured towards his eyeliner on Penelope’s desk. “Where’s Wood and the Weasel?”
“Well, Oliver is still in his boxers and Percy is trying to drag him out of bed,” Audrey said with an amused glint in her eyes. “It’s quite a sight to see.”
“I can only imagine,” Penny answered. “I bet 10 galleons Oliver will be late for the dinner.”
“And count in Percy too, because I’m ninety-percent sure Percy won’t leave without Oliver,” Marcus added, finally turning away from Penelope to go and pick up his eyeliner. “But the dinner won’t be starting on time either. I’m guessing about a 10-15 minute delay.”
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” the two girls retorted at the same time and they both burst out in giggles. Audrey looked at her watch.
“Well, they still have an hour to get ready. Maybe Percy can get Oliver ready by then.”
“I doubt,” Penelope replied, popping the ‘b’. “Oliver is like a big toddler, except you can make a toddler see sense. Oliver has never reached that level of intelligence.” the three shared a laugh.
Oliver was sometimes hopeless. But Percy was there for him and that meant something, because Percy had a special ability; he could do anything he put enough ambition into.
Thirty minutes before the opening dinner, and Percy was helping Oliver style his hair. Oliver’s hair was one hell of a stubborn motherfucker, especially after it was washed. However Percy was a stubborn motherfucker too, and he managed to make it look aesthetically pleasing even if he had to apply a tad too much cream.
Though Oliver was still whining about it being ‘too early to get ready’.
“Thirty minutes, Oliver,” Percy insisted (or more like, plead). “And we agreed to meet before the Great Hall at fifty. Not to mention you still have to shave and- oh my god, did you iron your shirt yet?”
Oliver locked eyes with him through the mirror. Then a nervous smile set on his face.
Percy thought he would get an aneurysm.
Ten minutes before the opening dinner, Penelope, Marcus and Audrey entered the Great Hall. After checking in with an already exhausted Percy, and a half-naked Oliver, they drew the conclusion that indeed, they will be late.
The three took their seats at one of the tables and secured two places for the lovebirds. Before them were a set of plates and cutlery already placed however no food was yet to be seen.
“I’m hungry,” Penelope said with a pout. “Why couldn’t they put out some… I don’t know, appetizers?”
“Do you always have to think about your stomach?” Marcus asked with an exasperated sigh. “If we count in the possible delay, it’s about twenty minutes until you can stuff yourself full with meat.”
“That’s heck ‘a long time!” Penelope stuttered out with a horrified expression. “Aye, what do I do now?”
“I have some biscuits in my reticule,” Audrey offered softly, pulling out a chocolate-chip-cookie. Penny’s eyes lit up as she took it, and beside her Marcus raised his eyebrows.
“Why do you have biscuits in your bag?” he asked, dumbfounded. Audrey laughed.
“I knew Pen-Pen would get hungry. I just thought beforehand.” Marcus shook his head, though he was smiling too by then.
“Fine, you’re right. Clearwater never changes, does she?”
“No, not at all.” Audrey agreed with a nod. “Though I like it that way. Pen is lovely the way she is.”
Right as the clock chimed seven, Percy and Oliver stepped out of their dormitory.
“If we’re going to be late…” Percy started, his voice laced with warning. But Oliver didn’t look worried at all.
“Oh, please. There’s always a ten minute delay at least,” he said dismissively. “You know, ‘Welcome to Hogwarts’.”
“Pray to Merlin you’re right or I’m beating your ass,” Percy hissed through gritted teeth. Though Oliver only managed a half-loose smile.
“You couldn’t hurt me. You love me too much,” Percy turned around with a sharp movement at that sentence and looked at Oliver. Really looked at him.
“Do you wanna try me, Oliver Benjamin Wood?”
And in that moment, Oliver had decided, that he indeed did not want to try his boyfriend.
At 19:05, Marcus noticed a boy talking into a radio. He was grinning and giggling like a little kid and in that moment, Marcus knew that trouble was brewing. However he decided that it was only a little bit of a prank on someone and that it didn’t matter-
(Later, he wished he would’ve listened to his senses and ripped that radio out of that kid’s hand – maybe rip his whole hand off).
At 19:06, Penelope’s attention darted towards the same kid Marcus had seen previously with the radio, however this time there was also a wand in his hand. Penny ignored it, thinking it was for a prank.
And maybe she should’ve taken things more seriously.
At 19:08, Audrey’s eyes darted towards three buckets with lids hidden carefully beside the huge entrance and didn’t know what to make of it. But before she could stand up and go check what was in them, she was pulled down back to her seat by Marcus, who subtly pointed towards the podium. Dumbledore was standing there, clearly trying to get everyone to quiet down.
It wasn’t that big of a delay after all.
The show was starting.
At 19:08, Oliver and Percy got to the huge doors of the Great Hall and heard the eerie silence. Dumbledore was talking. And Percy was supposed to say a speech. In the sheer panic, neither of them noticed the boy around the corner, holding a radio of his own and smirking.
Before they could open inside, Oliver stopped to tie his shoes (later he wished he never would’ve picked shoes with laces all together) and in that moment, Percy decided that he would not be late because of his idiot, unserious boyfriend and decided to face the humiliation of being late alone.
At 19:09 sharp, the doors of the Great Hall snapped open, but before anyone could see who it was, something resembling a white shower fell from the sky. Audrey briefly saw the buckets rising into the air, their caps long forgotten before the liquid-like material poured like rain.
A moment later, the smell of ammonia and chlorine filled the Great Hall. Audrey unintentionally wrinkled her nose. As the shock wore off, people recognized who was standing in the door, now covered in somethingdisgusting.
Percy.
Percy was there. Percy, with his carefully thought-out clothes and his determination.
Percy who was-…
“SEMEN ON THE SLUT!” the guy, who had been holding the radio, was now standing and shouting that phrase over and over again, laughing his ass off.
And the others joined in. But it sounded more like a mouse’s squeak. It was awkward, horrified.
But people were laughing because they were supposed to be laughing-
It was a prank after all, wasn’t it?
“Semen on the slut!” the guy exclaimed.
“Semen on the slut! Semen on the slut!” people screetched, their voices shroud, more shaky than excited. Soon enough, the whole Great Hall was chanting and grinning and-
Some people were fighting back tears.
...hours seemed like seconds sometimes.This was also true vice versa...
In reality, the whole scene from the incident to the chorus of students went down in the span of seconds, however for Percy, it felt like he had been standing there for hours, his shaky legs rooted to the ground, smelling an awfully strong odour of ammonium and chlorine. But it wasn’t just the smell- it was the touch. The slimy, sticky touch and some might’ve even gotten into his mouth-
“SEMEN ON THE SLUT!”
“SEMEN ON THE SLUT!”
“SEMEN ON THE SLUT!”
“SEMEN ON THE-”
Percy turned on his heels and fled. Oliver was too shocked to call or go after him. But one thought finally hit him after 10 seconds or so.
‘Semen on the slut.’
‘Semen on the slut.’
Did that mean… Oliver felt his breath getting ripped out of him.
It registered.
“Oh my god…” Oliver managed to mutter before throwing up on his new shoes.