Chapter 8: the non-party

Saturday, 31st of October, 1987

Always singing in my sleep

I will leave it in my dreams

Oh, making bad decisions

Oh, making bad decisions

Making bad decisions for you

- Bad decisions

Percy Weasley could swear Oliver Wood was fidgeting for the last three hours, and he wasn’t a fan of it. Wood had already asked if he thought anyone would show up five times in the expanse of thirty minutes, and Weasley was more than ready for him to shut it.

It was, actually, pretty funny, or at least that was what Angie clearly thought since she was smiling brightly. Of course, she was there before anyone else, wearing a dress no less. Percy didn’t dare to comment, but Wood wasn’t that smart, since he said, the second she entered their room, “I never thought I would see you in a dress”. Her reply was simply a grimace and a very sarcastic, “Oh, Wood! How delighted I am to surprise you! My whole existence is based on your opinion of me and how I dress! I really really hope you spare a glance or two in my direction so I can properly swoon for the rest of the week!”

Percy laughed so hard at Oliver’s sour expression that his lungs hurt.

Angie took one look around, sighing, promptly sitting beside Percy on his bed, her face saying everything she didn’t feel like putting in words - for Percy’s sake, he was sure. Angie had promised not to kill Wood, while Oliver had simply promised not to throw shit at her, which, to be honest, was more than Percy had hoped for. She very carefully put her feet on his bed, staring at the floor with a disgusted expression.

“It’s just water”, Percy whispered, so only she could hear him.

“How did you manage to get water this close to your bed when the bathroom is”, she took another look at the room, before pointing to the door that led to the bathroom, where Andrew was very loudly singing while showering, “there?”

“I didn’t manage shit”, he said, making her smile. Angie adored to swear as much as Oliver did, but she seemed to like it even more when it was Percy who did it. “That was Wood’s work”

“Liar!”, Wood yelled, his cheeks flushing as Angie let out a strangled cry that sounded too much like a muffled laugh.

“Am not. You got out of the shower, saying something I really didn’t hear, mostly because I don’t care, and then you thought it fitting to jump on my bed all bloody wet, and…”, Percy stopped talking when Silverblood hit him. He looked over at her and realized she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, and that was her way of kindly asking him to shut it so she wouldn’t die.

“You do understand how that sounded, don't you?”, asked Mistbone, from the bathroom door, a towel around his waist and a smug smile on his lips, before yelling as his eyes fell on Angie. “Oi! You didn’t warn me she was here!”, he said, seconds before slamming the door shut again.

Sam helply got Andrew’s clothes, bringing them to him. He knocked at the bathroom door, getting an annoyed, “What?!”, as an answer. “It’s me, mate. I have your things”

Andrew opened the door very quickly, grabbing his things before slamming the door again. Beside Percy, Angie had tears running down her cheeks.

“Oh, Weasley, I have to thank you for this. I haven’t laughed this hard since…”, after a silence of a second, she concluded, “well, forever.”

“No one’s surprised, Silverblood.” Wood said, but Angie simply smiled. “And you have to thank me, I was the one who invited you in the first place”

“Oh, so glad to hear my all-consuming love is reciprocal, Wood” Silverblood sweetly replied, making Oliver blush and Percy laugh.

“This is no- I-. Oh, shut it, Silverblood”.

As Percy watched them talk and annoy each other, he got the weird feeling that they were actually getting along, in a very questionable way, for certain, however, Percy didn’t care one bit. He was just glad they weren’t on each other’s throats for once.

Although their recently found alliance - Percy didn't dare to call it friendship yet - seemed to calm Wood reasonably down, it could only last so long. He soon began to pace around the dorm quite annoyingly, slightly shaking his head. If anyone besides them saw Oliver at that moment, they would have thought he had completely gone crazy. Lost his mind. But Percy, Mistbone, and Whittles knew Wood well enough to know he was merely lost in his thoughts - that usually got the best of him. Silverblood, on the other hand, wasn't bothered at all since she already considered Wood insane.

"Do you think they'll come, Perce?", Oliver asked, stopping by his side, biting his lips anxiously.

It took Percy a moment to manage to look Oliver in the eyes and answer, mostly because that lip-biting habit annoyed the crap out of him. It really wasn't good for Wood, mostly because he was always doing it, causing his lips to be all red all the bloody time. Not that Percy looked too much at Oliver's lips, he wasn't saying that, because, of course, he didn't. But when he did, it was annoying. That was all.

"You don't think they'll come!!!" Percy finally looked at him, confused, as Oliver freaked out.

"What? I never said that!"

"Your eyes did! You said nothing, so your eyes told me everything", Oliver sighed, turning his back to Percy.

"That's very poetic, Wood. Perhaps you should consider a career as a poetry writer." Angie fairly pointed out, her words drenched in sarcasm. Oliver turned to her, surprisingly smiling.

"You think so?", he genuinely asked, making Percy ask himself what the bloody hell was going on.

"Sure." Angie shrugged, this time seriously. "Not a better one than me, though"

"Oh, no way. I'm the best"

"Three seconds ago you didn't even think you would make a good writer!"

It was like watching them playing with fire, it made Percy's heartbeat quickly, almost waiting for someone to throw the first punch.

"Don't see how that changes things" Angie laughed mockingly.

"You can't blame me for your stupidity"

“I blame you for everything that’s wrong with the world, but my stupidity isn’t one of them”, Oliver proudly announced.

“Is that so?”

“Wait, no! That sounded wrong, I meant like my stupidity isn’t an issue!”, Oliver tried to explain.

“Yeah, it is, mate. You should really look into it”, Percy couldn’t help but say, making Angie laugh.

“I meant, you git, that there isn’t any stupidity at all. I am a pure genius”

“Keep telling yourself that, love”, Angie said, making Percy smile and Oliver roll his eyes.

“Don’t call me love. If you fancy me, just say it, Silverblood”, he said.

“In your dreams, Wood. Only in your dreams”, she replied.

“A bit narcissistic of you to consider I dream of you”, Oliver muttered, his ego a bit crushed.

“Don’t you? You really should, I would make your dreams better”, Silverblood said, shrugging.

“First of all, no I don’t. Obviously. Second of all, I really don’t see that happening, but hey, if that’s what you need to believe to sleep at night…”

“Oh, shut it, Wood”

*

On and on it went, Percy's eyes going from one to the other as he wished Silverblood had never shown up.

_________________________

People. There were too many people walking around, way too many. That wasn't okay. Why had he agreed with that whole thing? Why?

Oliver was laughing, always smiling, talking with three people at the same time, engaging in different conversations without losing his posture or even hesitating. He kept going around, introducing himself - even though everyone there already knew who he was -, joking and making small talk with such facility it was actually a bit annoying.

Angie seemed to be having her fun, hips always moving to the song playing in the background - Wood had insisted that it wouldn't be a party without music -, mouthing the lyrics Percy had never heard before as she walked around their dorm.

What they seemed to have poorly calculated was the number of people they should have invited, since their dorm was made for only four people to walk around, it was really - and by that Percy meant really - crowded.

*

Oliver was close to his bed, talking to a blond girl. A very pretty girl, if Percy was being honest. A girl was wearing a very cute short dress in blue, and she was… looking over at him.

Percy felt his cheeks burning as he turned to look away, but, somehow, his gaze always ended up on that girl. It was, perhaps, the way she smiled, as if she knew all the secrets in the world and, if you were really lucky, she might consider sharing with you. Or, perhaps, if not the smile, it was her eyes. Even from afar, Percy could their color, the deepest blue. It seemed fairly appropriate, considering he felt like he was drowning every time he looked at her as if all the air in his lungs could never suffice if he intended to keep staring.

Suddenly, the pretty face was replaced by very brown eyes looking into him with could only be described as amusement and surprise.

“Who are you looking at?” Angie asked as Percy hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as he thought.

“No one”, he said, quickly staring at his feet.

But, no matter how much he wished Silverblood to drop the subject, she kept her skeptical expression on her pretty face, smiling silently at him.

“Fine. Don’t tell me then.” As she walked away, Percy murmured a quick thank you to whatever god had helped him at that moment.

It was only when he realized where she was headed that he noticed his mistake. In less than a minute, she was talking to the blond girl, and even though Percy couldn’t see her mouth from where he stood, he simply knew the motherfucker was smiling.

It was too late for him to stop Silverblood from saying whatever she wished to say, so his only option was to disappear before his reputation was ruined along with his life as he knew it. He enjoyed the last seconds of his life without the never-ending embarrassment that would befall him every time he encountered the blond girl as he walked toward the bathroom.

However, before he even managed to get close to it, a hand closed around his wrist, pushing him back.

“Angie lied”, he said, defending his honor before he could even see who had caught his arm. A mistake, of course, because he had simply assumed it would be her, but of course, he was confronted by a very confused Oliver Wood.

“‘Course she did, no surprise that. About what, though?”

“I- Sorry. Thought you were someone else.” Oliver looked at Percy with the usual smile.

“That explains the pale situation”, Wood said, pointing at Percy’s face. “I only saw you this pale when I was flying around the other day”, that brought back some memories Percy really didn’t want to think about it, so he shook his head.

“Yeah, well…”, Percy didn’t bother to finish that, mostly because he had no idea what to say next.

“Are you going to explain?”

“Not really”, he felt himself blush all over again.

“Oh. Oh.” Wood said, making Percy flinch a bit. He couldn’t have guessed, could he?

“What?”

“You fancy someone!” Oliver literally yelled.

“No! I don’t. It’s not true, stop it. Shut it, Wood. I mean it”, Percy said all those words so fast he wasn’t even sure Oliver understood them, but he clearly understood the message, because he was smiling quite broadly now, looking around, hoping for a glimpse of the girl who had made Percy Weasley blush.

“Who is she?”

“There isn’t any she”, Percy insisted.

“Sure, Weasley. Should I pretend to believe you?”

Before Percy got the chance to answer that, Silverblood was before them, a very mischievous grin on her face as she asked, “Believe who?”

“Percy. He’s lying to my face”, Wood clarified.

“Is that so?” Oliver shook his head in agreement at the same time Percy firmly denied it. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s not why I’m here”

“Why are you here”, Wood asked, in a very sweet - and obviously fake - tone.

“Weasley, Wood, allow me to present you Penelope Clearwater”, as if on cue, the blond girl appear beside Angie, a small grin on her lips as she looked at them.

“I know who Penelope is”, Wood said, a smug expression telling Percy he and Silverblood had entered into some sort of competition he couldn’t even pretend to care or understand at that very moment.

“Hello again, Oliver”, she said, and her voice was so… sweet? Percy wasn’t really sure.

“Penelope, do you know Percy here?”, Angie asked her in a not very subtle manner, ignoring Wood altogether.

“No. Hello Percy, I’m Penelope. It’s a pleasure to meet you”

At that moment, Percy thought he could die. He should say something. He knew that, of course. But, somehow, all the words left him.

“Oh”, said Oliver beside him.

Panic washed over Percy as he realized that Wood would not be in the least subtle about whatever he thought he knew. The whole situation was seconds away from becoming unbearably embarrassing.

“I- Hello. Percy Weasley. It’s my name. Yeah.”

That was terrible. He wanted to die.

________________________________

He would never admit it to Oliver, but Percy was actually having fun. Wood didn’t need to hear the words from him to notice, though, since his expression made that more than clear.

Percy had his back against the wall, a pink drink in hand - Silverblood brought the drinks if she herself did it was another question, but Wood didn’t have the courage to ask her -, and a rare smile tugging his lips as he talked excitedly with Penelope Clearwater.

Why had he invited her to begin with, he asked himself with a grimace as he watched the two interact. Percy didn’t smile that much when Oliver was the one talking to him. Actually, now that he came to think about it, he couldn’t remember the last time Percy had smiled at him, which was outraging, to say the least.

“Quit skulling” ordered Silverblood, as Oliver squeaked.

“How long have you been standing there, you freak?”, he asked, heart, beating fast as he stared the girl down, a completely different grimace on his face.

“Long enough to see how embarrassing long you stared at our Weasley boy talking with the Ravenclaw girl”, she admitted. Oliver knew her well enough to know she wanted to laugh at his expense but wouldn’t just so she could torture him longer.

“I wasn’t staring”, he quickly corrected.

“Sure, Wood, whatever helps you sleep at night”

He sighed, not feeling up to whatever conversation Silverblood was clearly more than excited to have. “Fine. Sure. Whatever.”

“That easy?”, she asked, clearly surprised.

“That easy what?”, he shot back, forcing his eyes to look at the girl that went to talk to him willingly, away from Weasley and whatever the fuck he was doing.

“You admitted you were staring at her way quicker than I thought you would. I was ready to spend some valuable minutes of my precious time annoying the shit out of you”, her tone indicated aggravation, but the way her eyes shone sold her out, she was actually having fun. There, with him. That made Oliver feel a bit better.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes at her, “Disappointed, Silverblood?”

“By you? All the bloody time, Wood”

Surprisingly, he laughed, glad for the distraction. He shook his head slightly at her as it became harder and harder not to smile at her. For the first time, Oliver was capable of understanding why Weasley liked her so much. However, his name brought back the image of him smiling at Clearwater as if the sun set on her face.

“I wasn’t looking at her, by the way. I have no interest in her whatsoever”, Wood said, forcing himself to focus on the conversation he was having with Angie.

“Is that so?” Silverblood scrutinized him with that intense eyes of her, looking at his soul, as Oliver cleared his throat, a bit uncomfortable.

“Yes”, he all but sighed the word, suddenly eager to tell Silverblood all that had been bothering him those last days. Oliver had to bite his tongue until he tasted blood to stop himself and the words that scared him so much to slip out of his lips.

If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t even sure why he was thinking that. He didn’t even know it was true, hopefully, he was overreacting and all of that would be soon in the past. Years from then, he would remember it all with laughs. Or, even better, he wouldn’t remember it at all.

“Why’s that?” She kept looking at him in a way that clearly said ‘I know all your dirty little secrets, Wood’, and it was freaking him out. “I mean, you thought she was interesting enough to be invited, and yet…”, the rest of her sentence was implicit, in a way only Silverblood could manage, it was like she was inside his bloody mind.

“Stop that, Silverblood”

“What?” As Oliver rolled his eyes for what seemed like the fifth time at her, Silverblood laughed, a broad smile resting on her lips. “Okay. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to pry”, but it was obvious that was a lie.

Oliver was, however, glad she didn’t insist.

“It’s fine. So, tell me, Silverblood. Are you having fun?”

The way she looked at him made clear she saw the way he was changing the subject in a not very subtle way, but she somehow managed to hold the snarky comment about that to herself as she said, “I am, actually. Who knew you were capable of doing something slightly cool.”

“Was that a compliment, Silverblood?” Oliver sipped longly at his drink - something that tasted incredibly good, but of course, he would never say that aloud, not when it was Silverblood who did it -, as she denied.

“Only in your dreams”

“Oh? Because I’m pretty sure you just said I was cool”, Oliver said, hiding his happy grin behind the plastic cup.

“I did not say such a thing!” Silverblood sounded so honestly offended, that Oliver found himself laughing at her again. She merely went back to the usual bored expression as Wood tugged on her arms.

“Come on. Admit it! You like me”, he tried, even though he knew damn well she would rather be eaten alive than say such a thing.

“Merlin, Wood. Are you that desperate for a compliment?”, he kept the confident smile on as he got closer to her, “I’m sure Weasley would happily offer you one if you asked nicely”

Oliver took a step back as if she had struck him.

“Would not”, he whispered, not able to help himself.

“Shit. You’re really bothered by that”, she said to herself, looking at him as if realizing something for the first time. “Shit”, she repeated, “Oh. Shit.”

“Feel like repeating that again?”, he asked in a sarcastic tone, trying to brush off whatever thought of Weasley from his brain.

He didn’t know why it bothered him, as Silverblood put it, but it definitely did. Percy should be talking to him, should he not? It was, after all, a party Oliver had organized - sure, with other’s help, but the initial idea was his - so if Percy was having fun, it was because of him, and he should have the decency of spending at least a bit of his time smiling at Oliver. Not at Clearwater. Who was she anyway? How dare she just show up like that, marching into Percy’s life and making a mess.

At least making a mess in his friendship with Wood. No, actually, that wasn’t right. Oliver hoped Penelope didn’t do shit in Percy’s life. Hopefully, he was just being friendly. Also, they were only eleven. It didn’t matter anyway, she didn’t matter. Not like he did.

“Yeah. I do, actually. Shit. You’re screwed, Wood”, Angie said, bringing him back to reality to face the weird expression she had on.

“Huh?”

“Huh indeed.”, she gestured with his hands as if that explained it all, “Good luck, my boy. You’ll need it”

“What in the bloody hell are you talking about?”

“You have a mouth of yours, you know that?”, Silverblood tried to hide her smile as Oliver opened one himself.

“You’re one to talk, Miss Get-The-Fuck-Away-From-Me-You-Bloody-Asshole”, he quoted the words that came out of her mouth minutes before, when Mistbone tried to talk to her and spilled his drink very closed to her. It seemed like that had become a habit when it came down to the other boy trying to converse naturally with her. It was always disastrous to him and incredibly entertaining to the other three boys that always had the pleasure to watch.

“Shut it, Wood.”

“Make me”

“I’m serious, you’re annoying. Just shut up. Can’t you do that?”

“I was serious. Make me.”

At that, she threw her drink at him, laughing hysterically at the result.

“You think this is funny?”, he yelled, because how dared she?

“I don’t think it’s funny. It is. Very much so”, Silverblood said.

A second later, she had Oliver’s drink running down her cheeks. An outraged yell and she was onto him, they were both on the floor, kicking and throwing everything they could grasp at each other.

However, when a very angered Percy approached them to separate the fight, they were both laughing so hard, Oliver had both hands clutching his stomach, and Silverblood had tears in her eyes.

“You’re not funny”, Percy said, but he was mostly ignored.

“Oh, you so deserved that one, Wood. You’re such a bitch sometimes”, Angie said, as she took Percy’s offered hand to get up.

“Me? You asked me to shut up!”

“Yeah, I did. I stand by that, by the way. You should learn to shut up, for your own good”

“My own good? That doesn’t even make sense, Silverblood. What could anyone do to me?”

“Throw a drink in your stupid face?”, she offered, and they both went back to laughing and aggressively pushing each other around, as Percy stood there, not sure of what in hell’s name was happening.

But, what he wasn’t able to understand was how alike Oliver and Angie were. Not in the obvious ways Weasley thought it was more than clear, but in everything else. They seemed to hurt the same and to burn with the same flames. They were simply too kids with too much fucked up shit in their minds, that liked to curse a little too much because at that age it was forbidden and wrong and it made them smile for that small rebellion. They were simply fighting and arguing because it made both their hearts beat faster and faster.

Angelina Silverblood and Oliver Wood were made of the same burning flame, of the same ache for adventures, of the same need of risking themself in stupid manners. It kept them alive. It was, however, at that night that they started a friendship that would mean absolutely no good. A friendship that made everyone careful around them, when together, with too many insults but way more understanding beneath.

As Oliver changed into clean clothes in the bathroom, Angie stared at the closed door, biting her nails. Could they actually more than endure each other’s presence? She wasn’t sure, but perhaps it was worth trying.

Wood wasn’t so insufferable as she had initially thought, and if she was right about what she thought she knew about him, they could more than understand each other, perhaps they could find a bloody solution together.

Perhaps, sharing that one secret with Wood was more of a possibility than sharing with Weasley. But to share such a thing she needed to be sure she was right. She needed to understand it herself, and that was something she didn’t seem able to do, understand herself.

At the other side of the door, Wood stared at the mirror, looking at the weird way his hair was drying. He sighed. What the fuck was wrong with Silverblood? He wasn’t sure, still, somehow, he felt like it was the same thing that was wrong with him.

Once he came out, Weasley immediately got hold of his shirt and pushed him back inside, closing the door behind them.

He released Oliver and pushed him away a bit roughly, making him stumble around, his hands closing in the sink so he didn’t fall.

“What?”

“Are you stupid?!”

“Yes?”, Oliver tried, not wanting to make Percy madder than he already was. By his face, though, it didn’t work.

“I know!”

“What? I’m not stupid!”, Oliver defended himself, seeing that lying hadn’t helped him and not wanting to look… well, stupid.

“You just said you were!” Percy yelled at his face, making Oliver cringe.

“Well, I lied”, and then, only to annoy Percy as much as he was annoying him, Oliver added, “ And brush your teeth before you talk to me!”

“Why? You think I might try to kiss you, you bloody asshole?”, Percy asked, his whole face on fire, but Oliver knew it wasn’t because he was embarrassed, no, he was really really angry.

“I’m never sure, seeing as I’m the prettiest boy to have set a foot in this school”

“Oh, shut it, Wood”, Percy said, as he shoved Oliver back, his back hitting the wall with enough force to make him grimace. That hurt.

“The last person that said that to me had a drink versed in her hair”, he pointed out, trying to make the other boy smile, which clearly didn’t happen, that only made him angrier.

“Do you have shit where your brain is supposed to be?”, Percy honestly asked.

“I don’t, but you might”

“No, I don’t!”

They stared at each other for way too long, long enough for Oliver to notice Percy’s sharp eyes looking into his with so much anger it scared him a bit.

“Talk, Weasley”, he said, tired of that little game.

“You’re an asshole”, Percy snarled.

“Tell me something I don’t already know, you idiot”, Oliver said, in an attempt to play it cool, as if Percy’s words hadn’t hurt him.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know he acted really stupidly sometimes, but Percy was the one person who was supposed to laugh it off, wasn’t he? Also, it didn’t seem fair that Oliver didn’t know why was Percy so mad, he honestly had no idea what set him off like that.

“How to keep a damn promise, perhaps?” As Percy got closer and closer to Oliver, he tried not to flinch at Weasley’s words.

What the hell?

“Alright, no. This is not okay”, Oliver said, pushing himself off the wall he somehow ended up against one again.

“Oh, really, Sherlock Holmes? Hadn’t bloody noticed!”

“Percy, what the fuck?!”, Wood found himself yelling, pinning the other boy against the bathroom door, desperate to make sense of all that.

“You promised you wouldn’t fight!”, he finally said.

“I didn’t!”

“Cut the bullshit, Wood. We both know I saw it!”

Oliver shook his head, looking inside Percy’s eyes, hoping that would help him understand he wasn’t lying, “No, Weasley. I meant it, I didn’t fight. We were playing. Really.”

“Bullshit!”

“It’s not!”

“You and Silverblood? Playing? You really think I’ll believe that?”

Oliver sighed, exasperated. “What do you want me to tell you? It’s the truth, you git. She’s fine, I’m fine. And honestly, you know that, so I have no idea why you are so mad”

“Well… because. Doesn’t matter, Oliver.”

“Hm, yes, it does. Why do you care if suddenly we are friends? Get out of here, go talk to Clearwater or whatever.”

It was Percy’s turn to sigh.

“I hate parties”, he announced, somehow hoping that would explain the whole situation.

“Didn’t look like it, you were having a great time with Clearwater”, Oliver tried to put his best smile on, letting Percy go and sitting on the floor, his back against the door. Percy followed him a second later.

He had his eyes closed when he replied, “Yeah, I guess.”

“You fancy her!” Oliver shouted the way he thought a best friend would in that situation. He didn’t feel like shouting, though. He didn’t know why.

“I don’t fancy her! Barely know her!”

“Still, you like her. Perce is in love! Wait until Silverblood and Mistbone hear it! You will not know peace”, he somehow managed a smile and was suddenly feeling better after thinking about Angie and Andrew giving Percy shit until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You can’t tell them”, Percy sounded absolutely horrified by that, making Oliver bark a laugh.

“Angie knows it already, but I can try to keep it from Andrew. For now”, he added the last part just to make Percy groan.

“Angie, huh?” Oliver pretended not to notice the way Percy directed the conversation to something not related to Penelope, he was weirdly glad.

“Yeah. She’s not all bad, you know”, he said, resting his head back in the door, closely listening to the music playing outside as Percy elbowed him. “Oi! What was that for?!”

“Felt like it”, he shrugged.

“Asshole”

Percy laughed.

“Wood?”

Oliver had closed his eyes and was mentally singing to the song that played loudly on the outside. It all seemed like a fever dream, those last minutes. Percy yelled for Merlin’s know why, they shoved each other madly, the song and the laughs. It was Percy, though. So it was fine.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I freaked out”

“Me neither, mate. And it’s fine.” Oliver said because it was. Percy’s head suddenly was resting in his shoulders and it was even more than fine, then. It was great.

“I just- I don’t know. I hated seeing you and Silverblood all friendly. You are my friend, and she is my friend, and I know that I wanted - want you to be friends and get along, all of that. But it seemed like you really got along and you’re supposed to always like me more because she’s a girl, and she doesn’t get me as you do.” Percy said it all in one breath, and somehow that was one of the favorite things Oliver had ever heard coming out of Percy’s mouth.

He didn’t dare to tell him how Silverblood understood him, even if that wasn’t true to Percy. No, because he understood what Percy meant.

Angie wasn’t his best friend, they didn’t have what Oliver and Percy had, never would. Knowing Percy felt like he did once made him smile. He wanted to ask Weasley to promise that Clearwater wouldn’t be a problem, but couldn’t bring himself to say her name in a moment like that.

“Merlin, I had forgotten that!”

“What?”, Percy asked, sounding confused.

“That Silverblood is a girl. She is just…”, he gestured, even though both of them had their eyes closed as if that conversation in a universe where they didn’t have to look into each other’s eyes.

“Right?”

“Yep. Right. But she is a girl, and she is also not going to be as important as you, Weasley, so stop winning.”

At that, Percy laughed. A relieved laugh, Oliver realized. He pushed Weasley closer. They didn’t move for a while, Percy’s head still resting on Oliver’s shoulders, Oliver’s against the door, a song Oliver hadn’t heard before playing in the distance.

“You promise, though?”, Percy asked, after a while. “That you’ll always love me more? Like, even if one day you do realize she’s a girl and… you know”

Oliver didn’t know, he had no idea what Percy was talking about, but still, he said, “I promise. I’ll always love you more, Weasley.”

But he didn’t ask the same thing from Percy, because he didn’t think Percy could keep his words, not like Oliver intended to keep his, and he somehow knew he couldn’t manage to see Percy love more some random girl than him.

He simply rolled his head until it rested against Percy’s, their hearts beating in synchrony as the melody of a song embraced them in that little secret moment.

As everyone cheered and laughed outside, dancing around to a song they probably never heard before, Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley breathed together.

Later, Oliver would remember thinking how much that had felt like a memory, like living inside a memory. And how much he wouldn’t mind if they happened to be trapped in that second for a small eternity.