Chapter Text
Oliver Wood was not jealous.
Why would he be jealous? He only walked in on his roommate Percy Weasley snogging Penelope Clearwater. It was just shock. Who wouldn’t be shocked walking in on your best friend and roommate snogging someone you didn’t know they were dating? Right? Right?!
It was definitely awkward when it happened. Oliver bounded up the stairs to his dorm room after the first Quidditch practice of the year (the actual first practice, not the one where the Slytherin tossers took over the pitch and Ron ended up vomiting slugs). He was in good spirits. The team looked fantastic this year; it was certainly their year. His mood immediately changed when he burst into his room to see Percy kissing Penelope. Shock set in first, then embarrassment when Percy and Penelope realized they weren’t alone. They immediately stepped away from each other, like their current distance could trick Oliver into believing he saw nothing. All three of them were turning as scarlet as the Gryffindor’s house colors.
“Sorry. Sorry,” Oliver mumbled shutting the door behind him. He didn’t want to be those sixth years causing drama. Everyone thought he and Percy were weird enough already. “I didn’t know anyone was here. I just came to grab my homework.”
Percy straightened himself out, despite his face still being as red as his hair. “It’s quite all right,” Percy said stiffly, “I think we just, um, lost track of time.”
“We were studying earlier, I promise,” Penelope said with an awkward smile.
“Yeah, of course,” Oliver said uncertainly. He looked over to his own bed and starting walking over there like he was trying not to frighten two startled animals. “I’m just going to grab my stuff and leave you two to… whatever you were doing.” He quickly threw his Charms homework into his schoolbag and rushed over the door.
“Oliver, wait!” Percy said just as Oliver’s hand touched the doorknob. Oliver stopped. Percy walked over to him. He looked like he was struggling to find the right words. Then, he spoke quietly: “I would, um, appreciate if you kept this a secret just between the three of us. Penny and I aren’t exactly ready for this to be public yet.”
Oliver couldn’t say no to Percy’s big blue eyes. He clasped his hand on Percy’s shoulder and smiled. “Of course, mate,” he said, “Your secret is safe with me.”
Oliver left the room and groaned against the staircase wall. There was a weird pit in his stomach that he could tell wasn’t embarrassment. He could admit that, surprisingly, Percy looked like a good kisser. At least Penelope seemed very receptive. Oliver wondered how long they had been together. It certainly seemed like they had a lot of… practice. Percy seemed very knowledgeable and confident about what he was doing and his lips looked very kissable when he was begging Oliver not to tell. And there was that feeling again.
Oliver couldn’t deny it anymore: he was jealous.
Sometime in fifth year, Oliver looked at Percy and realized “Oh, fuck, I think he’s attractive.” It hit him like a rogue bludger to the head. Percy wasn’t doing anything special; he was just sitting on his bed, looking intensely at his homework. Oliver tried to shake it off. He really did, but he quickly realized girls didn’t do it for him. There were things he could appreciate about girls- especially if they were good Quidditch players like Angelina, Katie, and Alicia- but he wasn’t attracted to them. So he decided to hide his feelings as much as he could. When Fred and George talked about what girls they found attractive in the locker room, Oliver just ignored them. When girls tried to flirt with him, he played oblivious.
Oliver could understand what attracted Penelope to Percy. Just because he wasn’t attracted to girls didn’t mean he was blind. Penelope was attractive: tall, slim, with long, curly blonde hair. He heard some of the crude comments from other boys when she walked past; he usually glared at them for their unchivalrous behavior, especially if they were fellow Gryffindors. They never rankled her exterior however. She walked with a confidence and grace that was uncommon for most teenage girls. Oliver thought he once heard Penelope mention her mother was a former Muggle prima ballerina. Her father was some sort of academic and she had clearly inherited at least some of his smarts. She was a year below Percy and Oliver, so he had no idea how well exactly she did in class, but she was still a Ravenclaw prefect- one of the hardest houses to earn that title- so she must have something going for her in that department. She was an ideal match for someone like Percy who had such strong ambitions.
What stung more than the jealousy was that Oliver was beginning to think Percy might be like him. He had shown no previous interest in girls. He never said anything in private about girls he fancied. Unlike other boys, his eyes never seemed to linger on Madam Rosmerta. Once Oliver had come out of the shower with just a towel wrapped loosely around his waist and he could have sworn he saw Percy blushing.
It also bothered Oliver how different Penelope was from him. She was a feminine as he was masculine. While she rarely spoke and when she did it was always observant and well articulated, Oliver was a loud-mouthed, unobservant jock. Almost everyone told him that if Snape suddenly started tap-dancing to Celestina Warbeck in Potions, he wouldn’t notice because his nose would be too buried in his Quidditch playbook.
Oliver tried not to let the Percy and Penelope bother him. If Percy was gone longer on prefect duties than he normally would, Oliver tried not to think about it. Luckily, he had Quidditch to distract him. He had to think of a way to combat the Slytherins’ Nimbus 2001s. Then, the attacks on Muggle-born students- and Nearly-Headless Nick- began and things turned to shit.
First it was just caution. One student petrified could be a cruel, cruel joke. Every few years there was a student who went too far to scare others. Two students and a ghost was a pattern. A very concerning pattern. Two more students was cause enough to take extreme precautions.
Oliver fumed when Quidditch was canceled. He was angry that he couldn’t prove how good his team was. It was their year to win! It just wasn’t fair. They shouldn’t be punished for a giant monster on the grounds. He sulked around his room until Percy came flying in the dorm in a panic.
“Penny’s been petrified!” Percy cried. “And Hermione Granger!”
Oliver’s stomach dropped. He’d only known that two students had been petrified- he didn’t know who. Hermione was in his house! She was around him a lot during meals by virtue of being friends with his Seeker and his roommate’s younger brother. They weren’t close- she didn’t care much for Quidditch- but Oliver still thought she was a nice girl who didn’t deserve to be petrified. His relationship with Penelope was much more complicated. He didn’t hate her. He couldn’t. She was nice enough to him and she made Percy happy. However, he was jealous of her. That didn’t mean that she deserved to be petrified though.
Percy appeared to be near tears. “Oh, Perce, I’m sorry,” Oliver said, putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder, “Are you OK?”
Percy shook his head and- in a surprise move- hugged Oliver. At first, Oliver was slightly taken aback as Percy had never been the most physically affectionate of the Weasleys, but he quickly put his arms around him.
“Hey, it’s all right,” Oliver whispered while Percy sniffled into his shoulder, “They already have a plan to unpetrify everybody. It’s just going to take a little time. And they’ll figure out what’s happening.”
Oliver kept whispering anything he felt would help Percy. At the same time, he marveled at how good it felt to hold Percy in his arms. It just felt right. He smelled like soap, parchment, and something very earthy. Then, the guilt set in when he remembered that Percy was grieving the near-death of his girlfriend. He let Percy get his emotions out and when he was finished Oliver awkwardly patted his shoulder and said something along the lines of “It’ll be OK, mate”.
Eventually, they moved on with their day. As the time passed, Oliver made sure to check on Percy and made sure he did things like eat. Percy chose to bury himself into schoolwork. They operated how they usually did.
The days after the Basilisk was killed were… interesting to say the least. Oliver was somehow both surprised and not surprised that Harry and Ron were responsible for killing the monster. While they always found themselves to be in the middle of chaos, he was surprised they had the brains and the strength to do it without Hermione around. And they somehow managed to mess with Lockhart’s memory (which he quite frankly deserved). Oh! And Ginny Weasley had apparently been under the influence of the Dark Lord’s school diary! Crazy! Oliver blessed the Weasleys- especially Fred and George- for their inability to keep crazy stories to themselves.
The moment when the formerly petrified students came into the Great Hall was bittersweet for Oliver. The reunion between Harry, Ron, and Hermione was cute. The first year Gryffindors surrounded Colin and Nearly Headless Nick. The same practically happened with the second year Hufflepuff boy and his house. Percy practically bloomed when he saw Penny and ran up to meet her. He didn’t actually embrace her- Oliver figured it was because people had their eyes on them- but he looked like he wanted to. It hurt, but Oliver wanted Percy to be happy.
Oliver gave them as much privacy as they needed that evening. He distracted himself by flying around the Quidditch pitch. If he used the stinging wind as an excuse for his tears, only he had to know.