Love Prevails
Chapter 4: Love Prevails
The first rays of dawn filtered through Oliver's bedroom window, bathing their tangled forms in a warm, honeyed glow. Percy blinked awake slowly, his senses gradually sharpening to the solid weight of Oliver's arm draped across his midsection and the tickle of the other man's even breathing against his neck.
For a few blissful moments, he simply drank in the peace and contentment of their private oasis – a pocket of unreality where nothing else mattered beyond the rise and fall of their mingled breaths. Here, the rest of the world fell mercifully away, the incessant voice of Percy's insecurities muted to a dull murmur.
Unfortunately, such serenity could never last indefinitely. As Percy shifted slightly, a dull ache rippled through his body, reminders of the previous evening's blissful exertions flaring to vivid life.
Beside him, Oliver stirred with a sleepy grumble, reflexively tightening his arm around Percy's middle to keep him close. Percy couldn't resist a soft smile at the unconscious, possessive gesture.
"Morning, handsome," Oliver's rough, sleep-thickened voice rumbled in Percy's ear. Every word caressed like the most intoxicating balm.
Percy twisted around until they lay face-to-face, noses brushing. Up close, he could make out the fan of coppery freckles dusted across Oliver's cheeks and brow, a detail he'd never properly appreciated during their Hogwarts trysts.
"Good morning to you," he murmured fondly. His fingers traced idle patterns across Oliver's stubbled jaw, marveling at the novel intimacy of being permitted such casual tenderness in the fragile morning light.
For a few more priceless beats, they simply existed – curled around one another exchanging languid kisses and unhurried caresses. Percy could scarcely believe all the wasted years of repressing this profound connection, so vibrant and raw in its unvarnished honesty.
Eventually, Oliver broke away with a rueful sigh. Percy instantly felt the lack like a severed limb, painfully incomplete.
"As exquisite as this interlude has been," Oliver began, skimming reverent knuckles along Percy's cheek. "Reality must reassert itself eventually, I reckon."
Percy tensed instinctively as his partner voiced the insistent doubt already fomenting in the recesses of his mind. Oliver clearly registered the minute reaction, his brow furrowing in concern.
"Hey now, don't go getting your knickers in a twist yet," he soothed, that familiar impish grin tugging at his lips. "No use borrowing trouble before we've even made it out of bed."
Trust Oliver to perfectly distill the situation back to simpler terms. Percy exhaled a shuddering breath as his frantic pulse slowed.
"You're right, of course," he relented with a wry twist of his mouth. "Though perhaps we ought to contemplate...expectations at some point. Soonish."
He hated himself for broaching the spectre of complications so early into their burgeoning understanding. Oliver, for his part, merely regarded him steadily for a beat before heaving a sigh and scooting closer until their foreheads brushed.
"Listen to me, Percy." The rich timbre of Oliver's voice sent sparks dancing along Percy's nerves, commanding his full attention. "I'm done running away from this – from us. Whatever life's about to throw our way, we'll handle it together. Consequences and expectations be damned. I know what I want."
The raw sincerity in those words, stripped bare of all artifice or embellishment, stole Percy's breath. He found himself searching Oliver's warm whiskey gaze for any hint of lingering doubt or reservation...but detected only steadfast resolution reflected back at him.
"Do you?" he asked around the lump lodged in his throat, voice little more than a whisper. "Know what you want, that is?"
"You daft git." The admonishment lost any sting, leavened by the unmistakable affection glowing in Oliver's eyes. "Of course I do." He punctuated the declaration by stealing another searing kiss that left Percy's head spinning. "I want this – us, just as we are now, future be damned. No more hiding, no more running scared."
Oliver's fingers found Percy's, interlacing their palms in a scorching brand that conveyed every unvocalized vow and promise shimmering between them.
"I want you, Percy Weasley. In every sense, for as long as you'll have this daft old Quidditch fool." A playful glint preceded a wink. "So...what d'you say? Think you can stand sticking around for a while?"
Percy's throat clicked as he swallowed hard against the tidal wave of emotion cresting within him. He felt dangerously unmoored, adrift in unfamiliar waters – yet Oliver's hand remained anchored in his, grounding him in this tempest of intimacy and vulnerability.
"I…" he rasped, voice cracking before he regained his bearings. "Yes, you utter ass. As if I could ever deny you anything after that ridiculously overwrought appeal to my sentimental side."
Oliver laughed then, rich and full-throated. The sound sparked unbidden warmth to bloom in Percy's chest.
"Good thing I know sap works to disarm those cantankerous Weasley defenses, then."
Despite his flippant rejoinder, the undercurrent of solemn intent remained – a silent promise hovering in the scant space between their bodies. Percy found himself powerless to resist leaning in once more, capturing Oliver's lips in a bruising kiss that tasted of hope and longing and a future too effervescent to give voice to.
When at last they broke apart, breathless and disheveled, Percy rested his brow against Oliver's for a weighted moment.
"For the record," he stated, barely above a whisper. "I expect you'll hold to every exaggerated vow you've proffered with your customary fervor."
A grin split Oliver's face, bright and beaming as the dawn spilling across their tangled limbs.
"Challenge bloody accepted, Weasley."
"Perce? Are you there, dear?" Molly Weasley's head appeared in Percy’s fireplace, signature flaming red locks askew. "Your boss said you weren't at the office and I wanted to--"
She broke off abruptly as Oliver ambled into view, clad only in a tattered robe that gaped open indecently. Percy froze in the act of pulling on a jumper, feeling heat bloom across his cheeks and ears.
"Erm, hullo Missus Weasley," Oliver stammered out, clearly just as gobsmacked. He tugged the robe tighter across his bare chest. "Fancy meeting you, er, here."
Molly's eyes went comically wide as comprehension dawned. Her gaze swiveled between the two men, mouth opening and closing in a fair impression of a landed fish for several moments.
Percy felt as though the room's temperature had increased by several stifling degrees under his mortified mother's scrutiny. He fumbled for a response, any explanation or deflection, but found his throat too constricted to formulate words.
Just when he feared Molly might faint from oxygen deprivation, she seemed to find her voice once more. "Percy Ignatius Weasley! You had better start explaining this instant, young man!"
The shrill tone brooked no argument. Despite himself, Percy felt his spine straightening under the unmistakable command of his mother's scolding.
"Mother, I--" he began, only to be swiftly cut off as Molly rounded on Oliver again.
"And you! I thought better of you, carrying on with my son under my nose like... like..." She sputtered to a halt, clearly at a loss for how to articulate her reproach.
"Now just a bleeding minute!" Oliver thrust out a hand in a placating gesture, ever the mediator. "No one's been carrying on or putting noses anywhere untoward, I promise you that."
Percy winced as the ill-advised phrasing, already anticipating the renewed fit of apoplectic spluttering from his mother's disembodied head. Surprisingly, Oliver plowed ahead undeterred, his tone earnest and sincere.
"Look, I realize this seems...unorthodox. And none of us were prepared for you to find out quite this way." His gaze met Percy's, silently asking for permission to proceed. Percy gave an infinitesimal nod, bracing himself for whatever conversational whirlwind was about to be unleashed.
Oliver took a steadying breath before continuing. "The truth is, Missus Weasley, Percy and I...well, we've reconnected recently. As more than simply mates from our Hogwarts days."
Molly's bug-eyed expression remained fixed, but at least her stammering ceased as she registered Oliver's frank admission.
"You can't be serious," she finally sputtered. "You and...no, it's preposterous!"
"I know it may seem that way, but I'm quite serious." Oliver's tone remained disarmingly calm and level. "We've rediscovered feelings between us, feelings that never truly went away during all those years apart."
He reached over to grasp Percy's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The straightforward display of tenderness seemed to rob Molly of her righteous indignation, at least momentarily.
"Those sorts of...proclivities were never an issue before," she muttered, disconcerted. "Are you telling me my son has become...?" She trailed off delicately, clearly unwilling or unable to voice her implication.
"Your son is still the same man he's always been," Oliver stated firmly, emerald eyes flashing. "We've simply realized denying this part of ourselves isn't necessary or healthy any longer."
He turned to Percy then, silently imploring him to stand united. Percy swallowed hard against the lump of trepidation lodged in his throat.
It was now or never. He could either reinforce Oliver's courageous stance and embrace this newfound part of himself...or he could retreat back into safer, more socially-approved waters. Choose hiding and denying his truth over uncompromising vulnerability.
For one suspended heartbeat, Percy's wavering self-preservation instincts warred against the steadfast devotion shining in Oliver's eyes.
Then he made his choice.
Squaring his shoulders, Percy addressed his dumbstruck mother in an unwavering tone. "What Oliver's saying is true, Mother. We've developed...feelings for one another that extend beyond mere friendship. I understand this might come as a shock, but I implore you to understand we didn't make this decision lightly."
He paused, giving Molly's conflicted expression a moment to process his weighty confession.
"My affections and regard for Oliver are sincere. And while I regret deceiving you until now, you must know that he--" Percy broke off, glancing at Oliver to find the other man watching him with naked adoration "--he makes me happier and more complete than I've felt in longer than I can remember."
The words emerged raw and ragged, more unvarnished truth than Percy was accustomed to sharing. Yet having aired his most vulnerable revelation out loud, he instantly felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
Molly's eyes shone bright with unshed tears as she stared at her son, clearly processing his heartfelt admission. Percy could practically see the wheels turning behind her conflicted expression as she grappled with her deeply ingrained beliefs and maternal protective instincts.
"Oh, Percy..." she finally spoke, her voice wavering with a maelstrom of emotion. "I can't pretend I understand this entirely. But I've always known you to be a steadfast, principled young man who charts his own course through life."
She paused, pursing her lips as she mustered her resolve. "If you tell me this path you've chosen with Oliver is true to your heart, then I have no choice but to stand by you. Even if it means..." Another heavy pause as she swallowed thickly. "Even if it means adjusting some of my own blind preconceptions about what's proper and accepted."
Percy felt his throat constrict at his mother's clear effort to accept this seismic shift in her worldview. Of all the hurdles he'd envisioned having to overcome, the possibility of Molly's begrudging approval was near inconceivable.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Oliver watching with an inscrutable expression, clearly hanging on Molly's every word as much as Percy was.
"I won't lie and say I'm not...disappointed, in a sense," Molly continued, her tone regaining some of its typical briskness, even as her eyes remained overly bright. "This certainly isn't the path I'd envisioned for you when you were born, Percy. Every parent dreams of grandchildren and a nice, normal family life for their offspring."
She held up a forestalling hand as Oliver opened his mouth, clearly prepared to jump to Percy's defense.
"But I'm wise enough to know that what I want isn't always what's best or most fulfilling for my children to actually experience. If this...if Oliver makes you truly happy in a way I can't fully grasp, then I'll accept it, love." Molly's gaze swung to Percy, her expression softening into one of tender understanding. "I just want you to have the freedom to live your own life to the fullest, on your own terms."
Percy felt a lump swell in his throat, rendering him temporarily speechless. To have his mother's unqualified support and acceptance for his life choices, even ones she couldn't fully comprehend - it was more than he ever dared dream was possible.
Beside him, Oliver squeezed his hand tightly, offering a reassuring anchor. Percy realized with a sudden fierce pang of emotion that his partner - his bloody stubborn, tenacious, wonderful partner - had truly been the catalyst for this momentous breakthrough with his mother.
If Oliver hadn't first confronted Molly with his typical unflinching determination and sincerity, would Percy have ever found the courage to bare his soul in such an authentic manner?
Gratitude and unadulterated affection swelled in Percy's chest, threatening to overwhelm him entirely. Merlin's beard, he loved this maddeningly steadfast man with every fiber of his being.
Clearing his throat roughly, he mustered his most earnest expression to meet Molly's teary gaze.
"Thank you, Mother. You have no idea how much your support means to me." His voice emerged thicker than intended. "I'm sorry for deceiving you for so long, but I promise Oliver and I will continue striving to make you understand and earn your full acceptance."
Molly simply nodded, lips pressed into a tremulous smile as she glanced between the two of them. For one suspended heartbeat, the air fairly crackled with profound understanding and new possibilities, the first bricks laid in their foundation of openness and trust.
Then Molly seemed to gather herself with a muted sniffle, straightening her shoulders as she retreated back into her typical maternal command.
"Well! Now that we've purged the air of all that uncomfortable honesty nonsense, I expect you both for Sunday supper this week," she stated in a tone that brooked no argument. "And you'd better prepare yourselves for your father's barrage of invasive personal questions while I turn a temporary blind eye."
Oliver let out a surprised bark of laughter that severed the last vestiges of fraught tension. Even Percy felt the corners of his mouth tugging upwards at his mother's uniquely grounding brand of acceptance.
"Understood, ma'am. We'll be there with outrageously expensive wine in hand," Oliver vowed with a wink.
Molly aimed one last tepid scowl at them, though the glint in her eyes was unmistakable. "See that you are. Now shoo - let an old woman have a quiet lie-down after that unseemly outpouring of emotional theatrics."
And with that final playful jibe, her head winked out of the fireplace, leaving Percy and Oliver alone once more in the stillness of their flat.
For a long moment, neither spoke. Percy simply turned to Oliver, drinking in the beloved lines and contours of the other man's face as the weight of their shared epiphany settled over them.
Finally, it was Oliver who broke the weighted silence, reaching out to pull Percy flush against him in a searing embrace.
"Well, that could have gone far worse," he murmured gruffly against the curve of Percy's neck, pressing a lingering kiss to the thundering pulse point. "Your mum's a tough old bird, but she means well."
Percy shuddered at the intimate contact, his senses still buzzing in the wake of Molly's grudging acceptance and the profound emotional release of laying himself bare. He clung to Oliver like a lifeline, anchoring himself in the solid reality of his partner's unwavering presence.
"She does, at that," he eventually agreed, leaning back just enough to study Oliver's expression. "Though I must admit, I never could have...never would have..."
He trailed off, fumbling for the right words to encompass the enormity of what had just transpired. Of the seismic personal evolution he'd undergone by simply allowing himself to embrace this part of his identity without shame or apology.
"Hey." Oliver's calloused palm cradled Percy's jaw with feather-light reverence, tilting his chin until their eyes met and held. "You don't have to say anything else, love. I know."
And that was the crux of it, wasn't it? Oliver knew him – the truths and lies, the ugliness and the beauty – and still looked at him with that same fierce devotion smoldering behind his gaze. As if Percy was something precious to be coveted above all else.
"Merlin, but I love you," Percy rasped out on a ragged exhale, utterly disarmed. The words emerged without preamble, yet they tasted like the most natural vow to ever pass his lips.
Oliver went perfectly still against him for a suspended heartbeat. Then a beatific smile slowly bloomed across his features, eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that made Percy's breath stutter in his chest.
"You daft git," Oliver chuckled, wonderment and elation suffusing his rich timbre. "Took you long enough to catch up."
With that, he sealed their mouths together in a searing, all-consuming kiss that obliterated every remaining iota of hesitation or fear lingering in Percy's consciousness. This was everything – this truth, this union of souls and hearts and tangled limbs, branded into the very marrow of him in a way he would never take for granted again.
When at last they separated, Percy rested his forehead against Oliver's brow, allowing the shuddery breaths and dizzying swirl of emotion to gradually even out. Undulating waves of love and acceptance crashed over him with each exhale - for himself, for this remarkable man, for the perilous yet infinitely rewarding journey of vulnerability they had embarked upon together.
"So that's settled then," Oliver murmured, his tone warm and leavened with quiet awe. "Forever and always? You and me together against the world?"
Percy hummed a contented affirmative, feeling Oliver's answering smile against his own lips like the most sacred benediction. "Whether the world approves or not, it hardly matters."
He pulled back until their gazes locked and held, pouring every ounce of sincerity and conviction into his reply.
"From here on out, I choose us."
No matter what storms or obstacles still loomed on their horizon, Percy realized in that crystalline moment – he possessed an unshakeable truth now, an unwavering lodestar guaranteed to guide them through any tempest.
With Oliver at his side, come what may, he could brave any squall and emerge battle-forged on the other side, finally at peace with the most authentic version of himself.
Together, they stood ready to embrace a new world brimming with endless possibilities.