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I
"The best and most beautiful things
in this world cannot be seen or even heard,
but must be felt with the heart."
– Helen Keller
Percy Weasley knew what love was. In a family as large as his, love could have been easily forgotten and pushed under the rug, but his parents made sure that each of their children felt love. It wasn't to say that Percy didn't have those common thoughts every child had about being unloved by their parents. But Percy didn't know true love. At least not yet anyway.
He always dreamed of real love. The only kind you could get from another person who wasn't required to love you. Percy wanted that. It was cliché of course, even more so when he realized he didn't care who loved him. Male or female, the love would be accepted by him.
It also stemmed from the fact that Percy didn't have any friends growing up. It was just him and his siblings for the longest time. So, the cravings of another person's attention soon became a little too much. Anyone who thought they knew Percy would say that he didn't like physical attention or any attention at all. But he did. He just didn't want it from his family.
There were exceptions though, like when Bill would sit next to him and ruffle his hair, Charlie would pat his back, the twins would throw their legs over his on the couch, Ron would lay his head on Percy's shoulder, or when Ginny would hug him. Those moments he quite enjoyed but they never happened often. Mostly because Percy was too proud to say he liked them.
But he had never received any sort of affection from anyone else. Not until a certain brown-haired boy by the name of Oliver Wood stepped into his life. It started out innocent considering they were only eleven at the time.
Oliver would reach for his hand in the hallway when he was nervous. He'd lay his head on Percy's shoulder when given the chance. Or, sometimes, Oliver would straight up hug his friend when he knew Percy would allow it.
As they got older the touches started to fade. Both boys were too shy to continue outside the comfort of their dorm room. Many kids had started to tease them about it. By their fourth year, they would only exchange friendly touches in their room. By their sixth all physical contact between them ceased.
Percy stopped initiating anything because he was starting to feel something for his best friend. Feelings one wasn't supposed to feel about their friend. And especially not feelings he should be feeling when the other person was a boy. Percy heard what people said under their breath. Or when they thought he couldn't hear. He knew what they truly thought about people who loved the same gender.
Soon, Percy's heart began to feel heavy with the weight of the emotions he refused to acknowledge. But he didn't know that Oliver was going through the same thing. Both of them were confused and riddled with anxiety over something so simple. They shouldn't have to worry about who they loved, just that they loved the person and how they would show them they did.
That they shouldn't worry about what others saw when it came to them because the love in their hearts should have been enough to blind them to hatred.
II
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
– Lao Tzu
Oliver's hands shook as he sat on his bed. For the first time, he wasn't sharing the dorm room with Percy Weasley. The red-haired boy who Oliver had labeled as his best friend was Head Boy and had his own room. Disappointment washed over Oliver in waves but it was mixed with guilt. Oliver should be happy for his best friend. Percy wanted nothing more than to be Head Boy and Oliver should be celebrating with him.
Especially considering that Percy didn't really have anyone else who wanted to celebrate with him. Oliver had a few friends that he could force to join but he knew how Percy felt about people. That wasn't to say that Percy had zero friends. He of course had Oliver and a few friends in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and surprisingly even Slytherin. But Oliver was his only Gryffindor friend. Probably because other Gryffindors thought Percy was just the stuck-up Prefect that made them all follow the rules just a little too much.
The room was quieter without Percy. There were other boys that they shared their room with but none of them held a conversation as well as Percy did. And nobody made him feel the way Percy made him feel.
The anxiety of having to live without Percy was causing Oliver to panic. If he couldn't get through a year of school without sharing a room with Percy what was he going to do after Hogwarts? When they were younger they had talked about sharing an apartment in London, but did that plan still stand? Especially now when both of them had been pushing the other away?
But Oliver didn't even know if he could share an apartment with Percy. It'd be too difficult since he was in love with the other boy. The thought of Percy bringing someone home made him sick to his stomach. And Percy would soon realize that Oliver wasn't searching for his own romance and question him about it. Because Oliver didn't think he could move on from Percy; no one would ever top Percy in his eyes.
So, either Oliver had to suck it up and confess to Percy, or he'd have to live the rest of his life in a miserable state of self-pity. If he did it now he'd have to get through the whole school year living with Percy's rejection. Because there was no way Percy would reciprocate his feelings. But if he waited, his entire year would be a confusing mess of emotions. Not like it wouldn't be if he did confess, but it'd give Oliver time to adjust to life without the red-head. And that thought forced another round of panic to shoot up his throat. Oliver would have to work up the courage to tell Percy.
The Quidditch captain stood from his bed and made his way to where the Head Boy's room was. Oliver stood for a moment, his hand raised to knock on the door. Before he could chicken out and run away the door opened.
"Oh," the red-head exclaimed, his eyes wide. "I was coming to see you."
Silence washed over them as Oliver tried to figure out what to say. Did he want to ease into the conversation or blurt out the short speech he thought of on his way to Percy's room? But Percy had just stated he was on his way to see Oliver, so should he wait for Percy to say why?
"I think I'm in love with you."
Except Oliver wasn't the one who said it—Percy did. As the red-head stared at him, his eyes wide with the realization of what he said, Oliver tried to think of what to say back.
But Oliver couldn't think of the correct words to use so he simply grabbed Percy's collar and pulled the other boy in for a kiss.
III
You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep
because reality is finally better than your dreams.
– Dr. Seuss
Percy laid awake, staring at the ceiling. Warmth washed over his right side from Oliver's breath. The brown-haired boy had managed to fall asleep but Percy couldn't get his brain to shut down. A smile had been etched on his face since dinner because Oliver had said yes.
But that didn't stop the late-night anxiety he had that Oliver would leave him. Even though the question he asked earlier and Oliver's answer should ease his thoughts, it didn't.
And Oliver had never done anything to make Percy believe that he didn't love him. It was just Percy's stupid insecurities getting in the way. So, at night when Oliver slept, Percy would lay awake. It was just to savor the feeling of Oliver tucked into his side, or Oliver's strong arms wrapped around his waist and his chest pressed into Percy's back, or when Percy laid his head on Oliver's chest. It didn't matter how they were cuddling, just that they were always touching.
It'd take some time for Percy to realize that Oliver wasn't going anywhere. But for now, he'd have to push his thoughts aside and get some sleep. They had to tell their families the good news tomorrow and Percy couldn't deal with his family with little to no sleep.
"I love you, Ollie," Percy said while curling up beside Oliver and drifting off into a peaceful slumber.