Evenings
Oliver is, surprisingly a gracious host. Despite having less than an hour’s notice, he’s somehow acquired a few muggle boardgames. Lucy spends a solid hour talking his ear off about Quidditch. It’s spurring to Percy- he hadn’t even known Lucy enjoyed Quidditch, forget the fact that Puddlemere was her favorite team. When he asks Molly, she tells him it’s been a recent hobby of hers- apparently, she had gotten interested in in January. Percy feels bad that he missed such a huge part of his daughter’s interest- things with Audrey had been occupying his mind.
He and Molly watch as they talk back and forth, until Molly gets bored, and Oliver offers to find her a book to read. That was all it took, and soon Percy is sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of earl grey as Molly devours the book Oliver fetched for her while Oliver draws on a paper napkin with a muggle pencil some tricky play he’s been thinking about trying. It’s all very surreal.
By the time the sun sets, Oliver calls the number of a muggle takeaway place which he claims has the best Indian food outside of India. Percy’s only had it once before, he’s not really an adventurous eater, and the girls have never tried it before, so when Oliver asks him what he’d like Percy sort of shrugs. Oliver places the order. When he’s done, he hangs up the telephone.
“It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes. It’s just around the corner so I can pick it up.”
“I’ll come with you. The girls will be alright for ten minutes.” Percy offers. He’s half-expecting Oliver to insist he stay, but Oliver nods in agreement. Something eases in Percy’s chest- the idea of sitting around while Oliver did this and that made him somewhat queasy.
Percy sits the girls on the couch and gives them the same ground rules he gives them when they go anywhere- don’t touch anything without permission, no going to the adult’s rooms, stay away from knives and the stove. Molly rolls her eyes. “Just go, Dad!”
Percy flushes a bit. When did his children suddenly become… older? It’s not like they were teenagers yet, they were almost eleven after all, but it feels like just yesterday they were infants. Now here they are, giving him an attitude. He’d be upset if he wasn’t so damn proud.
“Okay, okay!” Percy and Oliver get their shoes on and out the door, locking it behind them. Percy takes out his wand and places a monitoring spell on the house, just in case. He half expects Oliver to tease him for it, or tell him it’s unnecessary, but he only smile mildly as Percy weaves the spell together. It’s nice- Audrey would have made some comment about how he was overreacting.
He and Oliver go to the sidewalk, and he lets Oliver lead- Percy’s never been in this part of the city before and he’s certainly never been to the takeaway place either. Oliver shoves his hands in his pockets, slouching a little bit.
“Thanks for coming with.” He says.
“Thank you for inviting us to stay. I know it’s inconvenient.”
Oliver shakes his head and they turn down the corner.
“You’re not an inconvenience. Neither are the girls.” He glances at Percy with a crooked little smile. “You may have noticed my place is rather big for one person. I bought it when I did my first season for Puddlemere before I knew anything about owning a home. It feels empty sometimes.”
Percy quirks an eyebrow. “Is that why you have so many plants?”
Oliver flushes a little. “Er, yeah. I suppose so. It’s a bit difficult to maintain relationships during the season, since we’re always traveling. Then during the offseason, it can get too quiet for my liking.”
“So you’re not seeing anyone?” Percy asks without thinking. “Sorry, uh you don’t-,”
Oliver lets out a chuckle. “No, not right now. I was seeing this bloke awhile back- a muggle if you’d believe it, but he didn’t believe me when I said I a professional athlete. Kept asking me what football team I was on.” He shrugs.
Percy’s not quite expecting Oliver to mention dating men so casually, but he can’t say he’s surprised. There had been that very drunken kiss their last year after Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup, after which Oliver had fallen down the stairs and crashed right into Katie Bell, taking her out at the knees. The rest of the night was too hazy for Percy to remember, but somehow, he’d ended up in bed and spent the next day nursing a massive hangover.
He'd never really given the kiss much thought-, they’d both been drunk and perhaps gotten caught up in the excitement of winning. Oliver never mentioned it after, so Percy didn’t either. Percy also hadn’t really given much thought to his own sexuality then either. He’d half-expected a meltdown, but after about twenty minutes of reflection he’d felt okay with it- sure, he liked Oliver and there were some men he found reasonable attractive, but he was sure he felt that same way about women, too.
Not that it mattered much to the wizarding community- they were more obsessed with bloodlines and family status than genders. Some of the older families may have still held some problematic beliefs, much most everyone couldn’t give a damn. Percy certainly didn’t. After that reflection, he’d just picked up his textbooks and went to class. He had other things to be concerned about than his sexuality.
“That’s a bummer.” Percy comments. “It must be difficult to maintain your career like that.”
“More like difficult to maintain relationships. Even most of my friends are Quidditch players, too. I think it’s just you and Penny who I talk to regularly who aren’t involved in Quidditch at all- even Alicia’s a manager in Holyoak.”
Percy raises his eyebrows. “You talk to Penelope?”
Oliver grimaces a little. “Er, yeah. After you stopped talking to her, we sort of got close.”
Percy feels a wave of something like shame twist through his gut. Audrey was jealous and he’d let that jealous affect him and Penny’s relationship. He missed his best friend.
“Right. Well, it’s only for a little while longer. Just until Audrey works it out.” He feels pathetic for trying to defend her.
“Just a little while longer. Sure.” Oliver repeats. They approach an old-bricked building which just has the words “INDIAN TAKEAWAY” on it in big, bold letters. Oliver opens the door for Percy and lets him walk in first.
The first thing Percy notices is the smell. There’s a deep, earthy scent of something that fills the room with slightly smoky and nutty notes. There’s something else, too, that adds a refreshing, almost citrusy undertone. The whole place smells something delicate and exotic, almost like a soft floral breeze.
There was a friendly buzz of activity—an atmosphere somewhere between cozy and bustling. The walls, which are painted in warm golds and deep reds seem to seep color into the place. It’s small, smaller than Percy would have expected, but it’s somewhat crowded. Behind the counter, a man with a gentle smile and the most impressive mustache Percy has ever seen is stood preparing orders, the aroma of curries and sizzling tandoor filling the air.
It's packed, but when the man at the register sees Oliver, he perks up, waving a hand at a tall, thin girl next to him with warm eyes and thick glasses. She looks to where the man is motioning, sees Oliver, and smiles. Then she walks away from the counter, presumably to go fetch the food.
Oliver and Percy squeeze their way to the counter.
“Hello Arjun. How are you?” Oliver asks, pleasantly. The man smiles widely and shakes Oliver’s hand over the counter.
“Oliver, my boy!” The man, Arjun, says in one of thickest brummie accents Percy has ever heard in his entire life. “I’m alright.”
“No, he’s not!” says the girl, returning from the back with a large paper bag. She hands it to Oliver with a wink.
“Isha’s just upset because I fell over and badly scraged my knee.”
“He was picking up the deliveries all cack-handed-,”
“Ent, wench!” he waves the girl off without any heat. “Took a bit of a tumble.”
“It’s because you’re old, Dad.”
“Aye, that I am.” Ajun says, nodding. He finally spies Percy and looks him up and down, like he’s reading the newspaper.
“Who’s this?”
Oliver clears his throat. “This is my friend, Percy. He and his girls are spending the night at mine.”
Ajun’s bushy eyebrows shoot all the way up, nearly reaching his hairline. Percy feels himself go pink.
“Are they now?”
“Yes.” Oliver says, unbothered by the man’s reaction. He passes over some muggle money to Isha, and when she tries to give him some change, he waves her away.
“Take it, for your honeymoon fund.” Oliver says. Isha starts to coo at him, thanking him. They talk for a few minutes about her upcoming wedding to her long-time boyfriend, with Arjun, her father, beaming. He tells Percy’s he’s sparing no expense on his only daughter’s wedding. When he’s done describing the ornate décor, Percy almost wants to give them a second tip.
“We’re off. Thanks Arjun, Isha.” Oliver says, neatly ending their long-winded conversation. He tucks the large paper bag under his arm.
“Ta-ra a bit!” Arjun calls out after them as they squeeze back through the other people. They stumble into he street, and Percy finds himself missing that lovely smell already. They get started walking back to Oliver’s home.
“You must go there a lot.” Percy comments. Oliver smiles fondly.
“Yeah, I do. My first night here I was sort of hopeless- none of my stuff was delivered and I was sleeping on the floor. Not to mention I was homesick. My Mam and I used to eat Indian food together once a month, and I was missing her. I wondered into the takeaway, and when Arjun sat me down and got me some tandoor, I just about bawled my eyes out. They’re good people. Even if they won’t shut up about me dating someone.”
“That bad?”
Oliver shrugs and they the turn the corner to his street.
“Ever since Isha got engaged. It’s fine, I think they’re just worried about me being lonely.”
“Are you,” Percy asks, looking at Oliver “Lonely?”
Oliver smiles that crooked grin and shakes his head.
“No. Not anymore.”
They make it back to Oliver’s house and unlock the door. The girls are right where they were left less than fifteen minutes ago, sprawled out on Oliver’s massive couch, each with a book in their hands. Molly begins sniffing the air immediately.
“What is that smell? It smells awesome.”
Oliver chuckles. “Just wait until you taste it.”
“Girls, can you set the table?” Percy asks, taking off his shoes. The twins oblige quickly. He knows he can just use magic, but he thought it was better manners for the girls to learn how to do it the muggle way- besides, even once they learned magic they wouldn’t be permitted to use it outside of the walls of Hogwarts.
He helps Oliver unpack the food, and the place the food, which is covered in foil in its containers, in front of each seat. Then they all sit down. Percy eyes his curiously and unwraps the foil. He’s instantly greeted by vibrant, inviting colors.
“I would have gotten you butter chicken, but Arjun would have killed me. It’s chicken vindaloo. Its spiced chicken cooked with tomatoes.”
The chicken vindaloo is fiery red smelling of the unmistakable tang of vinegar. There was rice in the container as well, light and fluffy.
Percy picks up a fork and pokes at the food. He’s surprised when the chicken melts a little off the bone. He looks up- the twins, despite never having tried Indian food in their entire lives, are digging in with ferocity. Even Lucy, who could never even have a bit of green touching her plate without having a meltdown, was attacking her dish with effort.
“I got Molly the Kadai Veg, it’s stir-fried vegetables in sauce, and Lucy’s got the Aloo Matter. I remember you telling me she’s a picky eater, so potatoes cooked in a cream sauce seemed like a safe bet.” Oliver says. He rests his hand on his chin and nods at Percy.
“Try it. I think you’ll like it.”
Percy’s a bit taken aback. He had told Oliver that Lucy was picky- but it’s somewhat off-putting that he actually remembered and put in the effort when ordering the food. It’s sweet.
He’s so thrown off by this that he realizes Oliver is staring at him, waiting for him to take a bite. He does so, lifting the fork up to his mouth.
It’s amazing. The chicken is just as tender as it looked, and the sauce is spiced with something nutty and warm. It’s the perfect mix of heat and flavor. It’s one of the most remarkable things Percy’s ever had the pleasure of eating.
Percy had always had a complicated relationship with food. Once he found what he liked, he never tended to stray from it. He was nervous that Lucy had gotten her pickiness from him. When the war came, he barely found the time or the energy to eat very much- he had ended up loosing weight he couldn’t afford to lose. Whenever Percy did manage to eat something, he was so tightly wound he’d end up throwing it up along with some blood.
Besides that, Aberforth was the only one who seemed to care that he was eating enough. He would often push a plate of food at him whenever Percy went to the Hog’s Head. It wasn’t very good, but it was something Percy could stomach. Then when the war ended, he just sort of… didn’t change anything. Sure, he’d gained some weight back, but not enough. Food just never seemed all that important to him, and recent mealtimes felt tense with Audrey at the table. It made Percy nervous, and when he was nervous, he didn’t eat.
Sitting here, at Oliver’s table, the man looking at him expectantly, wanting to know his thoughts… it was a little overwhelming. Percy blinks back unexpected wetness from his eyes.
“It’s excellent.” He manages to choke out, ducking his head in an attempt to avoid bursting into tears. Oliver just smiles and tucks into his own food. “Arjun’s cooking will do that, Perce.”
They finish their meals in companiable conversation, which is mostly Lucy and Molly talking over one another in an attempt to chat with Oliver. He doesn’t seem to mind- in fact he seems genuinely interested in what the girls have to say. After their meal, they clean up and plop down on the couch. Oliver drags a muggle board game from somewhere called Monopoly. Percy’s not familiar enough with the rules to win, and Lucy’s too consumed by the paper money to play very much, so it becomes a full-on war between Molly and Oliver. Percy’s impressed- Molly’s a brutal landlord. She doesn’t even blink as he tearfully gives her the last of his money to pay the rent on one of the spaces. She’d be a fine businesswoman someday. Oliver is just as ruthless as Molly. It’s a good thing he got into sports and not politics.
When the game is over, the sun has set, (Merlin, they must have been playing for hours!) and the girls are getting sleepy. He’s sure it’s fine to skip their bath for one day, so he gets them ready for bed by transfiguring some of Oliver’s old clothes into nightclothes. Then he ushers them into the spare room. The bed is big enough for the girls to share, so he tucks them both in, Lucy on the side with the wall, and Molly closer to the door.
“Where’s Mum?” Molly asks and Percy pulls the blankets up.
“She’s not feeling well, love. That why we’re stay at Oliver’s for the night. She doesn’t want to get us sick.”
Lucy is already dozing off, eye flicking open and shut as she relaxes into sleep. Molly’s eyes start to droop as well.
“She must really love us.”
Percy feels like a knife just been shoved into his heart. Instead of answering or agreeing, he runs his hand through her hair until her eyes drift shut and her breathing steadies.
If he’s honest, he’s not sure Audrey loves them at all.