Marcus
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.