But You’re Beautiful To Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oliver nodded. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Why are you friends with him?" Evelyn asked.

The way she said it didn't really offend Oliver. She really did sound more curious than anything, but the question itself annoyed him to no end. What was it to her anyway. Still, he played dumb and answered her question with, "Who? Percy?"

Evelyn scoffed and nodded. "Of course!"

"Oh, well... Percy's cool. He's a good friend, and I like him," Oliver shrugged, his grip tightening briefly around the broom slung over his shoulder.

Evelyn glanced around furtively before saying, "Cool? More like a pompous prat. Come on, Oliver. We're all friends here, so you don't have to pretend."

Oliver suppressed a long, dramatic sigh. "We are not friends. And I'm not pretending. I'd take Percy over you 10 times out of 10."

"Oh, really?" Evelyn challenged, coming to a standstill as they finally reached the pitch.

Oliver kept walking. "The rumor mill must be pretty dry today," he said to her wryly, waiting until he was a few meters away before mounting his broom. 

He pretended he didn't hear her cursing him as he kicked off and flew away to greet the only two who got to practice before him;  Olivia, the "co-captain", and Charlie. He didn't think too much about her words anymore after that, not understanding her endgame or reason for coming up to him in the first place. After all, Percy was still his best friend by the end of it, and she can't have honestly expected any different.

In 4th year, things started to change a little bit.

Children wanted to grow up so fast, and Hogwarts kids weren't exempt to that. Part of this was forming relationships as though they were even old enough to understand. Oliver thought they were ridiculous, especially because people claimed to have girlfriends and boyfriends in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year as well, and they always lasted maybe a month before everyone just got bored with each other. 

"Imagine this," Percy had said one time. "Once you're out of school, ready to start a family, you have to go and find someone who didn't go to Hogwarts because you dated everybody there."

"I don't think it'd matter," Oliver had said in reply. Percy shrugged, and exchanged a glance with Oliver when yet another couple of 12 year olds began to argue right behind them. Something about how they were breaking up because one ate the other's chocolate frog.

So Oliver knew how Percy felt on the matter. Still, in 4th year, the couples started actually lasting more than a month. It was astonishing. They also started to snog, which was less astonishing and more annoying.

A few times, Oliver had passes made at him, and a few girls flirted with him on occasion. When this happened, he just acted dense. After all, they didn't come outright with it, so he could just say that he didn't know. He wasn't really interested in them, because he firmly believed that it didn't work like that. He hardly knew them. And besides, he couldn't focus on a relationship when he had Quidditch! And Percy.

But apparently one girl in particular couldn't get the hint, as she approached Oliver one day at breakfast. Oliver watched her come over, noticing her as soon as she got up from the Hufflepuff table. Percy, who was sat next to him, had his head stuffed in a book while he was scarfing down some eggs. Occasionally, he would lower it and stare contemplatively in front of him, but he ultimately didn't pay Oliver any mind as they went about their breakfast. That was how it typically was.

When the girl finally sat down in front of them, Oliver stared at her and Percy's eyes flickered to her for a second before he decided to just ignore her, continuing as he was. That didn't seem to bother the girl. Evidently, she wasn't there for him anyway.

"Hi," she greeted Oliver directly, her head resting in folded hands as she watched him intently.

Oliver responded with an awkward wave and smile. "Can I help you?"

"Will you go out with me?" The girl blurted. Over her shoulder, Oliver could see her friends attentively watching the conversation.

He didn't say anything, opting to simply raise his eyebrow at her. Next to him, Percy's shoulders shook a little so Oliver could tell that he found something amusing, but he wasn't outwardly laughing. Maybe it was something in his book.

The girl clarified, "I'm Claire. A 4th year, like you, in case you've forgotten." Oliver again said nothing, so she continued, "We have Herbology together! Anyway, I want to go out with you."

Oliver knew that already, but he was a little confused. Sure, he'd seen the girl before, but where had she gotten the nerve to just ask him out? And for what?

 "Erm..." He hesitated, thinking of an excuse to tell Claire. Finally, he settled on trying to be funny with it, slinging his arm over Percy's shoulders and declaring, "I'm going out with him at the moment. Sorry."

After a brief pause, Claire kept staring at him, seemingly still trying to understand the words that came out of his mouth. Oliver fought back a smirk. Looking at Percy, Percy was already looking at him, face impassive save for the slight furrow in his brow. His eggs were frozen halfway to his mouth, but upon meeting Oliver's glare, he looked away and continued eating silently.

Claire, having watched the whole exchange like she was trying to decipher a psychological thriller, simply let out a little "Oh," and walked back to the Hufflepuff table.

"Real funny, Oliver," Percy commented wryly once Claire was out of earshot. "Now she'll never ask anybody out again."

"You're the one always complaining about meaningless relationships at this age," Oliver shot back.

Percy hesitated before arguing, "Yes, but... If I were her, I'd rather hear you say 'no' than make a joke out of it."

Oliver stated the obvious. "But you're not her. Maybe she'd rather hear the joke!"

Percy looked at him disbelievingly, his eyes practically yelling at Oliver about how stupid he sounded. "You really believe that?"

"...No," Oliver conceded.

As it would come to be proven, they both were wrong. She neither enjoyed the joke nor got offended by it. In fact, she didn't even think it was a joke, and told all her friends that Oliver was actually dating Percy. And never let it be said that Claire was just a sweet and shy Hufflepuff, because in all actuality she was almost as bad as Evelyn when it came to gossiping.

By dinner, Oliver himself had been approached by at least a dozen people asking if the rumor was true, and Percy had been approached by just as many. 

"I just didn't say anything," Percy told him when they sat down for dinner. "What did you say?"

Oliver bit his lip and looked away. "Well, I said yes."

Percy didn't say anything for a moment, prompting Oliver to turn and gauge his reaction. With a confused frown, Percy asked him, "What's your plan?"

"What do you mean?" Oliver replied, acting oblivious.

Percy sighed in annoyance. "I mean... what do we do? People think we're dating and we're not. But how would they know that if you keep egging them on? Why do you keep egging them on?" 

"I thought it was funny," Oliver shrugged defensively. "But if it bothers you so much, I'll stop." 

Percy didn't say anything after that, and there wasn't any conversation between the two of them for the rest of dinner, save for when Charlie stopped by them on his way out of the Great Hall.

"Alright?" He asked, looking at the two of them eating in silence.

"Peachy," Percy answered dryly.

"Heard you two were dating. Congrats," Charlie said with a smirk.

Percy glared at his brother who took that moment to retreat, and then he turned his glare on Oliver pointedly. Oliver resolutely stared at his plate, refusing to meet Percy's eye.

Throughout the rest of the week, most of Oliver's interactions went like that. His Hufflepuff friends were some of the first to know, as they were a pretty tight knit group and Claire just wouldn't stop talking about it. They made fun of him for dating someone, and even more for dating Percy. 

"What are you talking about? Percy is great!" Oliver had exclaimed defensively as they laughed in his face.

One of them, Henry, exclaimed, "Merlin, you're whipped! We knew it!" He wiped the tears of laughter from his face.

"Knew what?" Oliver decided to ask. He hated when his friends got like that. They would laugh about something, and when they all laughed at the same time they would just spur each other on to the point where it got obnoxious. Occasionally, Oliver would join them, but not today. Especially not at his expense. Or Percy's, for that matter. He couldn't even wrap his head around what they found so funny. They weren't friends with Percy like he was, but they didn't outwardly have any negative feelings about him. What did they find so funny about him "dating" Percy? 

His friends only seemed to find his question even funnier, for they just started maniacally giggling even more. Oliver just had to walk away at that point. 

Because that was the only time he wasn't with Percy that week, that was the only interaction Percy didn't know about. Oliver was strangely grateful for that fact, because he felt that his friends would've thoroughly embarrassed him in front of Percy. 

Percy, bless his soul, didn't really have anything to say on the matter. He was virtually indifferent because nobody really bothered him about the matter after the first week. Not like they did Oliver. And things between them were unchanged, save for when Oliver would tease Percy about giving him a little kiss before practice because that's what good boyfriends do. Percy found it funny when Oliver did that, but being funny wasn't getting kissed. Oliver found himself being pretty hung up on that, because why wouldn't Percy want to kiss him even if it was a joke? 

Unfortunately, Oliver didn't have to worry about that too much, because their charade of a relationship took a huge tumble after the 2nd week. When Oliver came back from practice one day, rather than finding Percy serenely doing class work or some other Percy thing, he found Percy frantically pacing the length of their bedroom, muttering something as he read a piece of parchment that he gripped tightly in his hands. Upon hearing Oliver come in, Percy turned on him and took him by the wrist, closing the door as he pulled Oliver inside of their room and casting a silencing charm on the door.

He then proceeded to hurriedly yell about something or another, gesticulating every word with Oliver's wrist still in hand. Oliver couldn't understand a thing.

"Wait, what?" Oliver interrupted, stopping Percy's movements. It was actually starting to hurt. "Slower please."

Percy sighed before displaying the letter and explaining carefully, "The twins, those little shits, told my parents that you and I were dating! Now my mum is mad that she had to hear it from them, and both my parents are just so confused! I'm confused!" 

"Oh," was all Oliver could say. Percy seemed to wait for him to say something more, do something more. But he wasn't going to get what he was looking for.

"Oliver," Percy began. Oliver was grateful. The silence was ringing too loud in his ears. "This needs to stop. It was okay at first because I thought that I was just helping you out with avoiding uncomfortable confrontations, but... this is an uncomfortable confrontation for me. In fact, it's mortifying. So, please just tell everybody it was a joke!"

Oliver frowned and pursed his lips but was quick to blurt, "Okay," when Percy took him by the shoulders and squeezed. Hard.

Later, Percy would comment on how it was quite ironic how their fake relationship was just as genuine as every one else's real relationship, furthering his agenda about how people their age couldn't have meaningful relationships. Or whatever.

Normally, Oliver would just nod along and agree, but he couldn't say he saw it that way. The abrupt ending of their brief and completely fabricated relationship made it seem like it was just that easy for them to end it. Maybe for Percy it was. But for Oliver, he was still kind of hung up on it. Sure, it was nothing more than just telling people that they were together and then occasionally joking that they were going to kiss each other, but Oliver rather enjoyed it. His takeaway from the entire ordeal was the opposite of Percy's, because he realized that he wanted to be in a relationship. And he was entirely sure that he could feel genuine emotions for someone.

When he would think about just what he wanted from a romantic relationship—why did he want it so bad, what would he gain from it—he was a little lost. He didn't think he only wanted the validation from a relationship. He got a lot of attention and affection from people. Those girls that came up to him, his friends, and Percy especially. So maybe it was that he wanted to be with a specific person. Thinking about being romantically involved with specific people really only evoked one thought; Percy. 

And then it made a little more sense. Of course fake dating Percy would make Oliver start to consider what it would be like to actually do so. For a while, he wondered if he was genuinely interested in a romantic relationship with his best friend, or if it was just that once he got a little taste, he became a little too conditioned to it. Maybe it was both.

But really, it was a long time coming. He realized that a lot of his thoughts revolved around Percy. After all, they did spend a lot of time together. But then again, Oliver reasoned, he spent a lot of time with his other friends, and he wasn't thinking about whether or not he had crushes on them. But he did spend more time with Percy. They slept in the same room, had the same classes, had every meal together, everything. Despite that, Oliver realized that he would continuously go out of his way to spend even more time with Percy, and maybe that was a little extreme. But Percy made him really happy.

So Oliver wasn't stupid. He not only wanted to be in a relationship, but he wanted to be in a relationship with Percy. Percy, his best friend who had no other friends, probably wasn't interested in making any, probably wasn't interested in anyone romantically, and didn't even believe in romance at their age. Oliver wasn't very into muggle religion, but if there truly was a god, Oliver felt really betrayed by him.

His whole world was turned upside down at that realization. It was weird, because now he didn't know what to do or how to act around his best friend. It was as though all common sense jumped out the window. 

He tried to distance himself from his feelings and convince himself that he truly only liked Percy as a friend. But he really couldn't deny it, nor could he stay away from Percy for too long, because it was like an invisible force pulled him in like a magnet and couldn't be broken. 

It was especially frustrating how Oliver had pretty much done it to his self, and now he was facing all of this turmoil while Percy could just live his life.

And the worst part was that he couldn't tell Percy how he felt, because he wouldn't be taken seriously. He couldn't even know if Percy swung that way. It was utterly disgraceful what he was reduced to.

So, by the end of 4th year, Oliver had gleamed some important things. Foremost was that he was in love with his best friend and he probably couldn't do anything about it no matter how much he wanted to because not only would it ruin their friendship, but it also most likely wouldn't result in anything. Everything else felt insignificant compared to that. All the hammering the professor's did about the importance of their upcoming OWL year went in one ear and out the other when Oliver had to focus on regulating his breathing with Percy's elbow touching his. It was maddening, embarrassing, and Oliver quite seriously considered beating himself in the head.

Percy knew something was wrong, but he didn't pry after Oliver didn't tell him the first time. That just made it worse, because he made it his mission to be there when Oliver decided to tell him what was going on.  That would be never, and it only worsened Oliver's "condition." Really, how many concerned looks and sympathetic pats to the shoulder could one boy give? But if he couldn't tell his best friend about it, who could he tell? 

The answer was no one.

Well, actually, the answer was his parents.

"Why am I not surprised?" His da had said when Oliver finally bit out that he had a crush on his best friend, Percy. "I mean, I never wanted to be someone's friend that bad."

Oliver felt a little indignant by that, because he was absolutely sure that the feelings were only platonic when they first became friends. To think his da thought that he'd had a crush on Percy since first year!

"Well, what are you going to do?" His mum had asked. At the time, he just shrugged and ate his lunch. 

Even now, as he arrived to platform 9 3/4, he was still a little unsure. He had a tentative plan, though. He'd tell Percy how he felt through subtle hints. It was a terrible idea to risk being too forward and losing his friendship.

He didn't get to see Percy on the train, but as he assumed and would later find out, that was because Percy made prefect.

"Charlie told me he appointed you as quidditch captain," Percy said after Oliver congratulated him on being prefect. "Congrats to you too."

Oliver was a little upset that Percy already knew his news while he was just now finding out about Percy's, but it was whatever. On a better note, he got to see Percy again.

However, even that little note wouldn't last. Apparently, the one year where Oliver was determined to be closer than ever to Percy, was the year that Percy decided he'd make other friends. 

It really wasn't much of an issue at first. Why, Oliver had his own friends too. And he was happy that Percy was meeting people who could also see his value as a person and friend. At the same time, he wasn't too happy about it. He missed his friend. As crazy as it sounded, Oliver hated seeing Percy spend time with other people, as if Oliver himself wasn't enough to keep Percy satisfied. And Oliver didn't say this aloud, because it sounded kind of mean when he put it in words, but he really didn't expect to have to fight another human being for Percy's attention.

Especially the weird Ravenclaw guy, Emilio, who never talked. Apparently, however, he did talk, and to Percy specifically. It was rather infuriating when Oliver thought too much about it, because they really were so much alike. Emilio had no friends, as far as Oliver was aware. Percy's only friend was Oliver. Emilio was a Ravenclaw, and everybody knew about their weird hobbies and intelligence that manifested in different ways. That was Percy through and through, and Oliver sometimes wondered why Percy wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw. Sometimes, he got it into his head that Percy was sorted into Gryffindor just for him. But that was an outlandish conclusion. Especially when Percy was now prefect and couldn't be bothered to make time for Oliver when he could fit time with Emilio into his prefect schedule, since they were both prefects. 

The only time he'd get to see Percy was at night when he didn't have rounds, and even that was rare, because he definitely spent more time "on rounds" than what was required. After around 4 months of that, it became quite apparent to Oliver that something else was going on. And even if his best friend couldn't understand what was going on, Oliver knew all too well what it was like to be head over heels for Percy Weasley. So he could tell that Emilio did too.

Unlike Oliver, who couldn't even get a word in nowadays, Emilio wasn't too keen on hiding his feelings either. Percy always thought it was a joke. He told Oliver as much. But Oliver knew it wasn't, and he really wished Percy would stop talking to him about Emilio.

"He has a crush on you!" Oliver loudly insisted one day while Percy was recounting an interaction he had with Emilio the night before.

"Oh, stop," Percy sighed, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he was going to slump over into his cereal.

"No, Perce," Oliver said, frustrated. "I'm serious. Why is it so hard to believe that he would?"

"Because that's..." Percy seemed to struggle for words. He shrugged, "Just drop it. That's ridiculous."

Oliver rolled his eyes, but he listened to Percy and let it go. It wasn't as though he wanted to bring them closer together anyway.

By the end of 5th year, Oliver was still very much single and pining over his best friend who was being pursued by someone far more blatant in their affections. Also by the end of 5th year, Percy was still single despite Emilio's efforts. Oliver didn't let that comfort him, though, because he was there to witness how Emilio was slowly but surely growing on Percy, like uncontrollable vines on the side of a neglected building. His best friend was being seduced, and it was honest to god working.

The whole thing left Oliver consistently sick to his stomach. He couldn't even look at Percy without feeling rage and sadness. Anger about what was happening, about who he was losing. His only refuge was quidditch, and he worked his team like hell. But after Fred and George poisoned the whole team before the playoff match that couldn't be scheduled for a later date because it was late already, Ravenclaw ended up taking the cup. Naturally, that made Oliver's blood boil. Emilio wasn't even on the team, but he somehow felt like that was just a symbolism of his losing battle for Percy.

It was utterly ridiculous, but that was just how he was feeling. It was a given that he wouldn't tell his parents how anything went down that year, because it was a complete disaster. He went in expecting to woo Percy, and now he was leaving with Percy being wooed by another. He thought his biggest obstacle would be Percy not batting for the same team, but it would turn out that he swung both ways, but not for Oliver. Never for Oliver, it seemed.

When 6th year came around, Oliver was relatively oblivious to everything. As per usual, there were no letters from Percy. His only goal was to win the Quidditch Cup. At least the cup couldn't leave him behind for another boy.

Dinner was cordial at best. Percy usually never talked much at dinner anyway, and Oliver made it his goal not to go out of his way to talk to Percy if Percy didn't want to talk to him. It was pathetic, he realized, to have to sit around and watch while Percy got swept off his feet by some random. It should've been him, not Emilio. And while he couldn't be too harsh on Percy because Percy didn't know about his feelings, he could still be bitter. Very bitter.

"Um, Ollie?" Percy spoke abruptly, putting his book down for the first time that night. That was also the first thing he'd said to Oliver besides a 'hey' that was accompanied by a side hug when they sat down at the beginning of dinner.

"Hm?" Oliver grunted, shifting the food around his plate. He steadfastly avoided looking at Percy, which he understood probably came off as rude more than nonchalant or anything else. Still, Percy couldn't see what he truly felt about anything nowadays. 

Percy cleared his throat and rested his hand on Oliver's arm. He waited, and Oliver sighed and put down his fork, understanding Percy's request for his full attention. Once Oliver finally looked at Percy, Percy took a deep breath before blurting, "I'm dating someone."

Oliver's heart sank, and for a moment it was hard to breathe. He saw it coming, really. In fact, he already thought it happened. The verbal confirmation really did hurt all the same. He swallowed thickly, turning back to his food. "Emilio?"

"How did you—I don't—yeah..." Percy spluttered, face turning red. "Was it that obvious?"

Ignoring Percy's question, Oliver choked out, "How long?" If Percy noticed the weird lilt to Oliver's voice, he didn't say anything.

"I... I asked him toward the end of the summer. Over letter," Percy explained.

"You asked him?" Oliver repeated disbelievingly. Somehow, that hurt even more. Now he couldn't even convince himself that Percy didn't like Emilio that much. Because for Percy to get over his holier-than-thou attitude toward dating and actually ask someone out was... wow. What made Emilio so special? Snapping out of his pensive reverie, he noticed that Percy was looking at him nervously, waiting for him to say something. "I thought it had been longer, honestly," he decided to say.

Percy cringed. "Yeah, it was that bad, wasn't it?"

Oliver smiled (it was more of a grimace) and nodded. "Right awful," he chuckled humorlessly.

"But Oliver," Percy began seriously. "I told you as soon as I could. I know you don't like the whole letter thing, but I was seriously considering sending one. You're the first to know."

"Right," Oliver said slowly, letting the incredulity show on his face. That earned him a sharp elbow to his side.

"Oh, come off it," Percy scoffed. "I know we weren't the closest last year, but you're still my best friend, right? You'll always be the first to know."

"I thought Emilio was your best friend," Oliver muttered. "That's sure how it seemed."

"Emilio's my... boyfriend." Percy blushed before rushing out the last part. He assured Oliver, "You'll always be my best friend. Nobody's going to replace you. I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

2 years ago, that statement would've made Oliver the happiest bloke in the world. Now, being Percy's irreplaceable best friend was nothing when he literally had a boyfriend. Still, he smiled and nodded, cheerfully saying, "Well, congratulations!" It sounded flat and insincere even to him, but Percy just smiled back and turned to his book again. 

The rest of dinner was finished in silence.

Despite Percy's assurances, Oliver really didn't see too much of him. In part, it was because they were both super busy. Oliver with trying to get his lazy quidditch team off of their arses so they could win the cup, and Percy with doing extra quidditch rounds to secure his position as Head Boy. To Oliver, it sounded like he was just trying to secure his position under Emilio's body. 

It was really tough for him to imagine that actually being a possibility at first, what with Percy presenting himself as an innocent little prudish nerd. But one night, after being gone for 5 hours on so-called prefect rounds with Emilio, Percy came back with his clothes haphazardly pulled on, and he smelled like Oliver's favorite tap in the Prefect's Bathroom. 

"Where have you been?" Oliver asked him, scrutinizing Percy closer. Now, he could swear he saw a few love bites on Percy's pale skin, and his fingers were all pruned, as if he'd been in water for quite some time. 

"Prefect's Bathroom," Percy hastily replied, dodging Oliver and beelining to his bed.

Oliver grabbed his wrist, halting his escape, and pulled down Percy's collar to get a closer look at his neck. It was by accident that he found out that the bites went even lower. "What were you doing?"

Percy blushed and looked away at anything but Oliver.

As realization dawned on Oliver, he dropped Percy's wrist in shock. "Merlin, Percy! What—"

"Stop, Oliver," Percy interrupted him with a sigh, turning away and heading to his trunk at the foot of the bed. He looked at Oliver imploringly, conveying a message for him to look away. Oliver only frowned and shook his head, still trying to process what he just learned. Percy shrugged and started changing into his pajamas, pointedly ignoring how Oliver gawked at all of the bites, hickeys, fingernail marks, and all things sinful littered on his torso. 

"No bloody way!" Oliver exclaimed, finally getting his wits about. "You and Emilio had... in the Prefect's Bathroom?"

Percy rolled his eyes and climbed into his bed. "It was nothing to serious. Only some... hand and mouth stuff."

"That's..." Oliver stuttered. He felt physically ill.

"Goodnight, Ollie," Percy said before shutting the curtains around his bed with flourish. 

Oliver stared for a second before silently falling into his own bed. All he could do was stare at the ceiling. Between pining for Percy and stressing over quidditch, Oliver himself had indulged in getting a blow job or two from a random witch in their year. There were quite a few. But to think about Percy doing it with his boyfriend... was this even their first time? 

Oliver felt thoroughly betrayed, which was weird because he had no claim to Percy, and apparently not his virginity either. It was terrible to think about all the same. If he were being honest, he never thought the day would come where Percy was sneaking around at night and doing this stuff. A lot could change from 14 to 16, he supposed.

The next day, when they'd settled at breakfast, Oliver carefully broached the topic. "I don't mean to pry but... was that your first time or what?"

Percy choked on his pumpkin juice, looking around furtively as he set down his goblet. Finally, he nodded once and began looking around the Hall, presumably for Emilio.

And that was that. After that one time, Percy never came back like that again. Either he started cleaning up and hiding it better, or that was the first and last time that he and Emilio did that. Things were tense between them, or maybe that was just Oliver being uncomfortable and Percy noticing but choosing not to comment. But a little before winter break, Percy started hanging out with him more, and he was around the dorm more too. Oliver didn't know why that was, but he was at least happy to spend time with his friend outside of dinner. 

However, he soon found out that it was due to some relationship issues that Percy was having with Emilio.

"I need some advice. It's about me and Lio," Percy had said one day. They were in their respective beds after dinner, having a casual chit chat for the first time in a long time.

"Oh, trouble in paradise?" Oliver teased, wiggling his eyebrows. In reality, he'd rather talk about anything but Percy's relationship, but he wasn't going to tell him that.

"Yeah, so..." Percy chewed on his bottom lip, thinking about how to articulate the issue. Oliver stared. He loved it when Percy did that. Percy finally said, "He gave me a ring, and he wants me to meet his parents."

Oliver's jaw went slack in shock, but he quickly regained his composure to stutter out a response. "Oh... that's—that's quite serious!"

Percy stared at his hands. "Yeah," he mumbled. He then turned desperate eyes to Oliver, "I'm not ready for all that, though! I like Lio, I do, but I don't want to... you know. It's all too fast."

Oliver nodded silently, just allowing for Percy to air out his grievances. Normally when Percy got like this, he came to his own conclusions no matter what Oliver would say.

"I should break up with him," Percy declared.

Oliver's eyes widened. He felt bad for Emilio, he really did, but he also was waiting to hear those words since Emilio first started to steal Percy away from him. If Oliver were in Emilio's position, he'd probably want to put a ring on it too, and he definitely thought that the entire thing could be overlooked if Percy was willing enough to just say no and move on. Still, he nodded gravely and agreed, "If that's what you think is best."

Percy, with an appreciative smile, said, "Thanks Oliver. I knew I could count on you."

Oliver smiled back, internally rejoicing and wincing at the same time. He felt bad about giving Percy relationship advice with his own interests at heart, but he convinced himself that it was Percy's decision to begin with, and he was going to do it regardless.

So when they got back from winter vacation, Oliver was only slightly surprised to hear that Emilio and Percy had actually broken up.

Oliver soon came to realize that if he thought Emilio was bad, he was absolutely not ready for the hold that Penelope had on Percy.

He was quite shocked when he finally caught on to what was happening, because he thought it would take Percy a little longer to get over Emilio. Apparently not, because just a month or two later he was practically head over heels for the girl, droning and ranting about how smart she was, how funny she was, and how pretty she was. Oliver knew that she and Percy had a charms class together, meanwhile he had classes with neither of them, so he couldn't really say anything about her personality. Looks-wise, Oliver could agree that Penelope was quite the catch, so much so that Oliver actually didn't think she'd go for Percy. It seemed like the world was out to get him though, because when he realized he liked Percy, everybody started liking Percy all of a sudden. That didn't exclude Penelope, who as it turned out was definitely interested in Percy first. 

"I'm going to ask her out for Valentine's Day," Percy told him one day.

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek. "Do you think it's going to work?"

Percy sighed and sat next to Oliver on his bed. "I don't know, but I was talking to her friends about it. They were the ones who recommended me do it, which I found kind of weird. Still, I'm doing it, because I do quite like her."

"Oh," Oliver said numbly. He couldn't tell if Percy knew already, but Penelope definitely had her friends talk to him about asking her out. Either that or she talked about Percy a lot to her friends, and they took initiative by themselves. No matter, both options meant that Penelope was obviously interested in Percy and would therefore say yes when he asked her out, and now Oliver just had to resign himself to waiting for yet another one of Percy's relationships to end.

Percy and Penelope were just so sickeningly sweet. They were absolutely enamored with each other, and hardly spent anytime apart. Occasionally, Penelope would even sit at the Gryffindor table with them. Oliver tried to hide his distaste for her, because it really was for no good reason, but he was pretty sure that she knew he didn't like her. Percy couldn’t know.

And Oliver knew his best friend wasn't innocent anymore, if that whole thing with Emilio offered him any information, but it definitely startled him one time over Easter break where Percy came back way passed curfew with hickeys on his neck, his shirt buttoned up crookedly, his tie poorly tied, and his pants wrinkled to the gods. He had that flush about him that just screamed sex, and he smelled like it too.

Oliver remembered wrinkling his nose as soon as he registered Percy's appearance and saying with deep resignation, "Oh, what'd you do this time?"

"I don't know what you mean," Percy had shrugged, making a beeline for the bathroom.

"Penelope? Did you two... y'know..." Oliver trailed off, making lewd gestures with his fingers.

"Oliver!" Percy had reprimanded, his face going red.

Oliver had known he was right just by the reaction, but he didn't know why Percy was blushing like a virgin. He's the one who did it. "So yes?"

Percy then closed the door without a further response, but Oliver didn't expect one anyway. 

The day after that, Penelope had come to their breakfast table and started talking about Emilio. Evidently, Emilio himself had told Penelope about his and Percy's past relationship, and wasn't that just ironic? Oliver had found it amusing, but Percy was mortified as that was his and Penelope's first argument as a couple. 

As much as Oliver would've liked to believe that the whole dilemma would create a permanent rift between the two, they quickly bounced back like he knew they would, and they went on with their picture perfect relationship. The only difference was that Oliver felt that Penelope was more wary around him, which he didn't know how to take. Maybe he was just imagining it. 

On one rare sunny day in June, Percy had left their dorm in a good mood to go walk around the lake with his girlfriend. Not even an hour later, he came back to their room in tears, inconsolable.

Upon seeing this, Oliver immediately rushed to his side, pulling him into a tight hug. He held Percy's head as the boy cried into his shoulder with no abandon.

"What's the matter?" Oliver asked as he patted Percy's shoulders comfortingly. In response, Percy sniffled and mumbled out an answer, but Oliver couldn't hear him because the sound was muffled with Percy's head still buried in Oliver's shirt. "I can't hear you, sorry," Oliver told him.

Percy then turned his head a little so that his nose was practically in Oliver's neck, and Oliver could feel his breathing as he spoke, "Penelope broke up with me."

Again, Oliver was torn between guilt and excitement on the inside, but he couldn't outwardly show either without getting a weird look from Percy. So, he settled on saying, "Oh no, what happened?" 

This time, Oliver didn't have to worry about the weird sensation of Percy's breathing ghosting on his face, because Percy pulled all the way back from Oliver's embrace. "She said that she liked me, but that she didn't want to compete with other people! Naturally, I told her that she wasn't competing with anybody, right? I like her. But she was saying all this rubbish about how too many people like me, and how she wasn't going to put up with it! Honestly, what does that even mean?" Percy ranted angrily, his tears coming to a momentary stop.

"What? That's absurd!" Oliver agreed. Internally, he felt kind of sheepish. He definitely understood where Penelope was coming from, even if Percy didn't. In fact, he couldn't help but realize that he was probably part of the problem. Maybe Penelope had caught on to his crush on her boyfriend. Despite the renewed guilt he felt, he stayed with Percy all throughout the day, even canceling the day's quidditch practice. He comforted and assured him until Percy didn't have anything to say anymore. He just cried. The next day, Percy tried to go about things normally and even went out to do his tutoring thing, but after that he didn't even come out of his room for anything but his classes. Oliver correctly assumed that the outing did not go well. 

Even though Percy was relatively healed by the time they let out for the summer (he wasn't crying 24/7 anymore), the whole thing just went to prove to Oliver how utterly infatuated Percy was with Penelope. She absolutely ruined him, and all Oliver could think about was how Percy would react if for whatever reason, he'd lost Oliver too.

At least Gryffindor won the cup that year.

With the start of 7th year, Oliver became acutely aware that he was running out of time. What started as a crush in 4th year seemed to be turning into a "the one who got away" situation really fast, when it should've never been that way. Oliver didn't know why, after all this time he was still obsessed with the idea of being with Percy, but it wasn't going to go away and he was just more determined than ever.

He remembered for a while in 5th year when he was convincing himself that he really didn't like Percy that much anymore. But that just wasn't true, and he couldn't act like he wouldn't drop everything for the opportunity to get with Percy at any given moment.

Now that he had a quidditch cup win under his belt and a sure plan to win the next and last one, Oliver had more time to contribute to pursuing Percy. After the first two days of 7th year, he was able to gauge two important things:

1. Percy was still friends with Penelope, and talked to her regularly over the summer. He was still hung up on her while they exchanged letters, but apparently they were both set on the being friends thing. Oliver found it quite ridiculous. 

2.  He also was talking to Marcus Flint a lot, which frankly infuriated Oliver. If there was anyone that Oliver hated, it was Flint, and his being friends with Percy only amplified that tenfold. It made Oliver feel guilty for insisting on not communicating with Percy over the summer, because obviously great relationships can be formed that way. It also made Oliver feel a heightened sense of urgency, because if he didn't get Percy now, then he'd have to be reduced to letters just like everyone else.

Despite the urgency, Oliver just couldn't bring himself to do anything. As he put more time into quidditch, he found that Percy was going out almost every night and coming back late, which made it seem like a repeat of his past relationships. Oliver would think he was seeing someone if he wasn't absolutely sure that Percy would tell him if that was happening. 

However, one night in November found Percy quietly sneaking into the dorm at 3:00 AM. Despite his discretion, Oliver woke up immediately, reaching for his wand and casting lumos.

Realizing he'd been caught, Percy froze in front of Oliver's bed. "Uh... hi," he said nervously.

Oliver didn't say anything, opting to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he gained his lucidity. "Where've you been?" He finally croaked, clearing his throat afterward. He checked the little alarm clock next to his bed, and his eyes widened, exclaiming, "it's 3:00 AM! Perce, what in Merlin's name have you been doing?"

Percy was silent, shuffling awkwardly from one leg to the other and shifting his gaze to anywhere but Oliver. "Well, you know..." He trailed off, avoiding the question.

Oliver sighed in frustration. He sat up in his bed and turned on the lamp, causing their whole room to be illuminated so he could extinguish his wand light. As his eyes adjusted to the change, he was able to take in Percy's appearance. His heart dropped, and his stomach started churning as he finally registered what was going on.

"Where have you been?" He repeated, his voice intentionally soft. Inside, though, he was fuming, and Percy could probably tell, if the way he shrunk in on himself was anything to go by. 

"Quidditch pitch," Percy mumbled, looking at his shoes.

Oliver's reaction was visceral. He didn't understand why Percy was acting all shy and innocent, when apparently he'd been defiling Oliver's favorite place just some time before. The thought of Percy shagging someone (that wasn't him) on the quidditch pitch made Oliver gag. It felt vindictive in a way. There was still one part that Oliver was lost on.

"Who were you with?" He decided to ask. Percy wasn't seeing anyone as far as he was informed, and he couldn't imagine that Percy started resorting to random fucks. But as Percy started watching him carefully, as though wary of Oliver getting violent or doing something rash at any moment, Oliver felt dread pool into his stomach and mix with the existing anger. 

Percy pursed his lips before finally answering, "Marcus."

Oliver swallowed. "Marcus... Flint?" He clarified, but he already knew the answer.

Still, Percy gave him a short nod and stayed silent, staring at Oliver all the while.

It was maddening, and as Oliver swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, he didn't know what he was going to do, but he was just mad. Percy took a step back at the sudden movement, so Oliver kept his distance. He didn’t want to scare him.

"But Perce... you know I—I hate him! And you... you told me that you guys were just friends! You were just tutoring him! Is tutoring code for having intercourse now, or what?" Oliver ranted. He had so much and nothing to say, and he was struggling to put it into words. He thought that maybe he shouldn't, lest he say something he didn’t mean to.

"This was the first time!" Percy defended himself. "I swear, I would've told you if anything happened sooner. And I didn't even mean for it to happen!"

"You didn't mean for it to happen?" Oliver echoed dubiously. "So... what? How? Help me understand, Percy."

"Oh, I don't know," Percy shrugged. "He just... kissed me. Told me he liked me. And then it just happened." 

"That easy, huh?" Oliver spat, and Percy recoiled in shock before turning away, presumably to go to the bathroom.

"Whatever, Oliver," Percy mumbled on his way past. He closed and locked the door with flourish, which is when Oliver knew he'd messed up.

He really didn't mean to say what he did, because obviously Percy wouldn't take kindly to being called easy. But at the same time, was it really that easy? If he'd known that after all these years, all he'd needed to do was tell Percy that he liked him in order for them to fall into bed together, then he would've done it by now. 

Feeling guilty, he waited for Percy to get out of the bathroom to apologize. He heard the shower turn off and the bathroom door open, but when he turned his head, it was just Percy's head peaking out of the cracked door, probably to see if Oliver was awake or not. They made eye contact, and Percy rolled his eyes before retreating back into the bathroom. This wasn't before Oliver got to see the large hand prints that appeared to be starting to bruise on Percy's waist, and that just made him sick all over again. 

Finally, Percy stepped out of the bathroom fully clothed in his pajamas. He went straight into his bed and began to draw the curtains, but Oliver finally bit the bullet and caught his attention before it was too late. 

"Hey, Perce," He began softly. "I'm sorry for calling you easy. It wasn't my place, and... I'm sure you have standards."

Percy stared at him, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of engaging in conversation at the moment. Finally, he sighed and said, "It's okay. I guess it does sound like... but I swear I don't sleep with just anybody!"

"Right," Oliver agreed, but internally he was wondering what the criteria was if Marcus Flint of all people fit it. It really could've been anyone else. 

Percy was apparently reading his face, for he buried his head in his hands and groaned, "I don't know why I did that with Marcus."

"Maybe you like him?" Oliver supplied numbly. The whole routine was getting tiring, and if Percy planned on getting with yet another person who wasn't him, then Oliver just wanted for it to be over with already.

Percy frowned. "I really don't think I do, which is the confusing part. I mean, sure, I kind of find him attractive. And he's nice to me. Gives me all these presents. But I don't really like him. Not enough to be with him or anything."

This confused Oliver, so all he said was, "Oh." The room was quiet for a bit, with Percy thinking and Oliver watching. "So, what are you going to do?" Oliver finally asked.

"I don't know!" Percy groaned, falling back on his bed in frustration. "I think he quite likes me. He said he saw me and Penelope that one time, which I don't know how to feel about. He basically told me he only got close to me to fuck me." 

"Wow," Oliver blinked. "That's quite the dilemma."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Percy agreed. And that was that. They closed their curtains, wished each other good night, and Oliver fell asleep to dreams of racing Marcus Flint to a golden snitch, only for Flint to just barely beat him to it. Oliver knew he was dreaming, because neither of them were even seekers. As the dream continued, Flint bragged and showcased the snitch in the palm of his hand, but it didn't look normal. It literally had Percy's face on it.

Oliver didn't place much credence in is dreams, even after taking many years of divination, but he knew he was fucked.

Despite their little disagreement, they got over their feelings relatively fast and Oliver was able to exist with a semblance of normalcy. They remained so close, in fact, that Oliver was privy to the knowledge that Percy continued to sleep with Marcus with no intention of ever being with him. 

Oliver wasn't too sure about that choice, because it was obvious that Marcus liked Percy a lot. Moreover, Percy didn't know this, but if he just wanted a good shag, all he had to do was ask Oliver. He voiced none of this to Percy, though, because the guy genuinely thought that being friends with benefits was the best solution to his Flint problem. Supposedly, that was Percy’s way of letting Flint down slowly.

In light of all that, Oliver's patience was starting to wear really thin. He thought about what was holding him back. Percy wasn't in a serious relationship as of late, and really it was now or never. Knowing how confessing an unrequited love to Percy ended up for Flint, Oliver really couldn't see a situation where it all went wrong.

One day in March, after a particularly rough quidditch match where the Slytherins absolutely ruined the game with their especially foul play, Oliver stormed off to the dorm immediately. He couldn't stop for anybody, not even his own teammates. He wanted badly to punch Flint in his smarmy face, but he somehow had a feeling that that wouldn't go over well with Percy.

Speaking of Percy, he was trailing two steps behind Oliver silently, using every bit of his leg length to keep up. 

"Oliver!" He kept calling, but Oliver just ignored him. He didn't want to talk at the moment.

When they finally arrived to their room, Oliver slammed the door behind him. Huffing, Percy caught it just in time and closed it far more gently than Oliver had. "Calm down, Ollie," he said. "You didn't lose or anything! You were great."

"But we didn't win!" Oliver snapped. "Those stupid snakes ruined the game! How hard is it to just play quidditch with no foul play?" Percy stayed silent at that, clearly having nothing to say in response, so Oliver continued his rant. "I just want to punch Flint in his troll-looking face!"

"Marcus didn't do anything!" Percy interrupted him.

"Well Marcus should learn how to control his team!" Oliver shouted. He was quite offended that Percy, rather than just listening to him rant, was deciding to defend Flint.

Thankfully, Percy didn't say anything after that, opting to just sit down and listen to Oliver go on and on about the ruined match, offering a hum here and a nod of agreement there. If he noticed that a lot of the ranting was aimed at Flint, then he didn't say anything. 

After 2 hours, even Oliver had nothing to say anymore, and Percy had checked out long ago, fighting to keep his eyes open. Upon realizing this, Oliver decided to leave it alone and just go take a shower. 

While he was in the shower, he thought of so much more to tell Percy about: criticisms about leadership, players, the rules in general, and Madame Hooch's refereeing. But when he stepped out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel around his waist, Percy was gone with nothing to show that he'd even been there since Oliver got in the shower. Not even a hastily scribbled note.

Oliver clenched his jaw and tried not to jump to conclusions or get in his feelings about anything, but deep down he already knew where Percy was. Or who he was with. 

Sighing, he got dressed and splayed out on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. Now all there was to do was wait.

Surprisingly, it only took Percy an hour and a half to walk back into the room with a dopey fucking smile on his face. The smile faded away when he noticed Oliver glaring at him, though.

"Are you serious?" Oliver deadpanned. "You really just left out with no warning. For what? To suck Flint's cock?"

Percy opened and closed his mouth, like a fish out of water, before finally saying, "No. We just walked around a little. As you're implying, I don't only go to him when I want to... y'know."

"Oh, really?" Oliver feigned interest. He stood up and slowly walked closer to Percy, saying, "Well then, I hope you enjoyed your romantic walk! My point still stands. What were you bloody thinking! It's like you're choosing him over me!"

"Am not!" Percy protested, stepping backward as Oliver got closer.

"Yes, you are! What does he even know about you? Does he know about the weird quills that you made? The fermenting stuff on the windowsill? Your silly Magpies shrine?" Oliver continued to list basically everything quality and hobby of Percy’s that only he would know about, because Percy just had to see what was right in front of him.

"No, but why does it matter?" Percy asked when Oliver was finally done, eying him cautiously. 

"Why does it—because nobody knows you like I do! That's what I'm trying to tell you, Perce. None of them. Not Flint, Emilio, Penelope, or whoever else you've been with!" Oliver explained vehemently.

"Well, I know that! You're my best friend," Percy told him meekly. At this point, he was backed against the wall, trapped by Oliver's body which was mere centimeters away.

Oliver sighed. "So you don't need any of them! Look in front of you. You have me. You've always had me." By now, Oliver knew that there was no coming back. He couldn't pretend like the words coming out of his mouth were no big deal after this, so it was all or nothing. 

"But those are people that I've dated—or at least slept with! And you're my..." Here, Percy paused and looked at the predicament. He was backed into a wall with Oliver basically pressed against him and staring pleadingly into his eyes, telling him that he'd never needed anyone else. Oliver could pinpoint the exact moment when realization reached Percy, for his eyes widened and he let out a shocked, "Oh." 

"Yeah. Oh," Oliver teased. Outwardly, he was just standing there, waiting for Percy to say something, anything more. Inwardly, he was panicking and felt more vulnerable than ever. He thought about why he'd felt so confident before, but now all the reasoning felt stupid when he was awaiting the consequences of his confession. 

Still, after minutes of silence, it was starting to get awkward when they really couldn't look away from each other due to their proximity, but neither of them wanted to be the first to say something. They were practically breathing each other’s air, and Oliver was starting to get a little uncomfortable. Finally, Percy whispered, "Well, aren't you going to kiss me?"

Oliver frowned. "Do you want me to?"

Percy didn't answer, simply choosing to close the space between them and kiss him. Hard. Oliver definitely wasn't complaining, kissing back with fervor as Percy was pushed against the wall. Percy's hands found his neck and hair, while Oliver rested his on Percy's waist, pulling him ever closer.  It was just a few kisses, short and then long, soft and then passionate, but there was no tongue until Percy initiated it.

"Are you sure you're not doing this just because you think that's what I want?" Oliver rushed out, pulling away abruptly. 

Percy sighed, resting his head on the wall. His eyes were still closed as he said, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Say you want it," Oliver insisted, poking Percy on his side.

His voice sounded whiny, and he could tell Percy wasn't taking him seriously. Still, he smiled as he told Oliver, "I want it," and that was that. Within the next minute, snogging escalated to the point where they were both shirtless and Oliver was carrying Percy to his bed. He practically threw Percy on the already unmade bed and made quick work of climbing on top, his hands roaming anywhere they could touch.

"Do something," Percy demanded, shivering as Oliver's broad hands ghosted all over his chest, stomach, arms, and everywhere.

Oliver chuckled, but he did what Percy wanted, peppering light kisses along Percy's jawline and then down to his neck, collarbone, and chest. Kisses turned to bites, and they were both rock hard by the time Oliver was licking directly above the band of Percy’s underwear.

But Percy was insatiable. He kept saying "more," and before they knew it, they were both completely nude with Oliver slowly pushing inside of Percy who, upon the intrusion, let out the most wanton whimper that Oliver had ever heard. As Oliver began moving and his thrusts began picking up speed, Percy was moaning loudly, eyes closed and chanting Oliver's name.

It was euphoric and more than Oliver could ever have imagined would've come out of telling Percy that he was the only one he needed, but he wasn't complaining. Quite the contrary, actually.

Percy's tight hole kept clenching around him, and when his hips started rocking to match Oliver's thrusts and his back was arching off of the bed, Oliver could tell that he was close. 

But he couldn't let him cum. Not yet.

Not when it wasn't guaranteed that Oliver would ever get him like this again. In fact, with how unpredictable Percy was nowadays, he could go off and get with someone else within the next month if Oliver didn't lay his claim first. Hell, he could even go and continue with Marcus after this. And that thought only made Oliver's blood boil, spurring him on.

Reaching between them, Oliver grabbed Percy's leaking cock and squeezed. Hard. Percy choked out a moan, and his hips stopped their movement at the startling sensation. As Oliver's thrusts slowed back down, Percy began writhing around irritatedly, begging for release. 

"Please, Ollie," he whined, his hands desperately gripping Oliver's forearms tightly.

Oliver was tempted, if only to hear Percy moan his name and see the evidence of his pleasure paint his glistening freckled skin as he came apart—but that couldn't happen yet.

"Shh," Oliver placated. Percy stopped moving. "I'll let you cum, but I just have one thing to ask of you."

"Anything," Percy mewled, taking deep breaths so as to distract from Oliver's tight grip on his sensitively hard cock.

"Don't sleep with anybody else after this. Don't see anyone else. Not Marcus. Not anyone," Oliver demanded.

Immediately, Percy flushed even redder, if that was possible, and he brought his hands up to cover his face. "Oh my..."

"Percy!" Oliver interrupted Percy's embarrassed mumbling, giving Percy's cock another squeeze to remind him what was happening. Percy clenched around him and let out a strangled sigh as his hands fell from his face.

"Okay!" Percy agreed hastily. "I—okay. Nobody else. Merlin, Oliver."

Oliver smirked and placed a triumphant kiss on Percy's forehead before fucking into him faster than before. He thumbed at Percy's tip and artfully massaged Percy's cock with his precum as lubricant. It didn't take too long before Percy was spurting cum on the both of them, his orgasm coming fast and hard. Oliver was quick to follow. Unfortunately, he was too slow to pull out and almost the entirety of his load was buried deep inside of Percy.

After that, he slowly pulled out with a mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to," and rolled onto his back, next to Percy.

Percy's stomach tensed at the loss, but he was otherwise unbothered, opting to silently blink up at the ceiling while he relaxed his breathing. "S'fine," He assured, but Oliver couldn't tell how sincere he was being after he slightly shifted away from the semen pooling out of him. Percy, after a few minutes, heaved himself up, saying, "We should go shower."

Oliver nodded in agreement and watched as Percy, in all his nudity, sauntered to the bathroom. He then looked away, waiting to hear the sound of the door closing so he could privately start to freak out about what just happened, but that opportunity never came because Percy paused at the door and looked at Oliver curiously. "Aren't you coming?" He asked.

Oliver straightened up at once. "Oh, you meant... together?" He stuttered out hopefully.

Percy shrugged. "I mean, you don't have to get in with me if you don't want to..."

"No!" Oliver hastily replied, almost cutting him off. "No, I'm coming."

The shower took way longer than it had to be, because Percy insisted on making sure that every pore of his skin was clean, and despite it being his second shower within short hours, Oliver was all too contented to help him. When they finally got out, Percy dressed in his pajama pants and a sweatshirt, and Oliver put on his pajama pants too but opted to remain shirtless. Percy sure didn't mind.

And as he lay in his bed, his body between Percy's legs, his head resting on Percy's chest, Percy's fingers carding through his hair, Oliver felt as though his senses were just overwhelmed with Percy. And wasn't that all he'd wanted?

"Percy?" Oliver interrupted the comfortable silence that had settled between them. 

Percy's fingers stopped moving in Oliver's hair as he focused his gaze upon Oliver's face, and Oliver tried not to mourn the loss.

"Yes...?" Percy replied, tentative and prompting, as if curious yet reluctant to hear what Oliver had to say.

"I..." As the thoughts swirled around his mind, Oliver struggled to pick what he wanted to say first, so he just blurted what was at the forefront. "You know I've been in love with you since 4th year, right?"

For a while, Percy was silent, and Oliver had to shift his head to look at Percy's reaction. Then, "Why didn't you tell me?" Percy's voice was hushed and understanding as he asked, but it was also just so confused. For a moment, it made Oliver feel bad for his decision to withhold his feelings for 3 whole years.

But after thinking about all that he'd thought and felt when he first made the decision, he couldn't say he regretted it. "You just seemed so opposed to the idea of dating anyone. And then we did that thing for around 2 weeks—do you know what I'm talking about?" At Percy's affirmative nod, Oliver continued, "I'd always just agreed with you on the dating thing. But then I wanted to date you, and Merlin was that confusing. And terrifying. And sad."

Upon the conclusion of Oliver's explanation, Percy was silent again, contemplative. Oliver once again tried not to let it get to him. He hated when Percy got like this. Still, he waited, and finally, "I knew you liked the whole fake dating thing a little too much!" Oliver tried to match Percy's grin, but his was more of a grimace. Percy must've noticed his discomfort, because his face sobered and he sighed before saying, "I liked it too. I liked you too. But I was in denial, and I didn't think you could like me back. And then there was Emilio. And Penelope. And even Marcus..."

"Stop," Oliver grumbled, pinching Percy's side. "I get it, you dated all of them before me." He ignored Percy's protests about not having dated Marcus. "But how could I not like you? It seems like everybody started liking you when I wanted you the most!"

Percy pursed his lips and shrugged. "You should've just said. I would’ve chosen you."

Oliver scoffed and rolled his eyes at the comment, but he felt lighter after being able to vent the crux of his frustrations for the past 3 years to Percy. And now there was only one thing left to do in order for Oliver to achieve his one true calling behind quidditch.

"Well, I'm telling you now. I love you, Perce. Be my boyfriend."

"Not even a please?"

"Please?"

"Okay."

"Okay. Thanks."

And then they both dissolved into laughter. That was that, and they were official.

From then on, Oliver devoted himself to being the best boyfriend he could possibly be for Percy. And Percy was as good as Oliver had already known.

The only issues they ever had were cleared up fairly clearly after Oliver told Marcus to stop sending Percy gifts and stop talking to him. He was a bit disappointed when he found out that Percy still kept some contact with Marcus, but he relented when Percy assured him that he'd never leave. And besides, Percy really never made friends in school that he didn't wind up in some kind of relationship with, so Oliver had to deal with him keeping contact with both Penelope and Marcus. They were even cordially invited to Emilio's wedding (to be held literally the day after graduation)!

On another note, it seemed that the mood boost was all Oliver needed to pull through the finals yet again, and now he had 2 House Cups under his belt! Also, Percy was able to write to Mrs. Weasley himself and tell her that they were dating. For real.

Out of school, they moved into a little flat together, because lord forbid they're not the only two sharing a living space. With Percy's entry level ministry position and Oliver's reserve keeper salary, they were by no means wealthy, but they were happy, and that was more than enough for Oliver.