Chapter Text
It started with a text message from Ginny.
After a long day of preparing an exhibit, Percy had checked his mobile on his way home. He never looked it at during work if he could help it. Percy considered his phone a massive distraction. As much as he loathed admitting it, he was as addicted to Twitter and the games on his phone as much as anyone else. When he felt the telltale buzz of an incoming text coming from his left pocket during his final hour of the day, he promised himself to look at it only when his shift was done.
At the bus stop, Percy looked at his lock screen. The text was from an hour ago. It read:
Ginny: HAVE YOU LOOKED AT TWITTER?!!!
Suddenly, a second text popped up from another one of his siblings.
Ron: I’m sure someone has already beaten me to the punch (probably Gin), BUT LOOK AT UR FUCKING TWITTER!
Then a third quickly popped up.
Fred: OMFG. HAVE YOU SEEN IT YET?! IM DYING IM DEAD
Fred: I hope you haven’t deleted your social media apps because you are going to want to look NOW.
Percy furrowed his brow at all these texts. If there was an actual emergency, he would have gotten a phone call or a long winded text from his mother in the entire Weasley group text (like when George got hit by a drunk driver a little more than a month ago). What on earth could be happening that three of his siblings felt the need to text him about? Especially these three?
In a momentary distraction, the bus arrived, forcing Percy to get out his Oyster Card quickly or face of glares of his fellow commuters.
Finally sitting safely on the top of the double decker, Percy opened up his Twitter app. Once he went to the trending UK topics section, he immediately saw what his siblings were texting him about. The top moment of the day read: “Pro rugby player Oliver Wood comes out as gay”.
Percy’s stomach dropped.
He was proud of Oliver- really fucking proud- but thousands of thoughts were running through his head. See, he knew Oliver Wood. Like the rest of his family, Percy attended a boarding school called Hogwarts for his secondary education. Oliver was not only in the same year as him, but he was also his roommate and one of his closest friends during school. Oliver was one of the few people that actually understood Percy. They were both obsessive, driven people that had a secret soft side that hid a lot of insecurities. They lost contact after they graduated for the regular reasons: they were too focused on their own goals. Percy entered academia and Oliver became a professional rugby player.
The problem was Percy had a massive crush on Oliver during school.
Well, not the entirety of school. It was really only the last few years. Oliver never knew of his crush, but Percy did tell him that he was gay right before Christmas holiday of their final year. Oliver had been nothing but supportive of him when he came out. Percy had thought he had gotten over Oliver, but this news was really throwing him for a loop.
He opened the topic. Apparently, Oliver was going to be on the cover of one of the UK’s gay magazines, which was the one running the story. Percy mentally noted to himself to pick up a copy when it came out. The cover photo was gorgeous. Oliver was smiling a genuine, relaxed smile that Percy remembered loving seeing. He was sitting in front of a Pride flag while wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. His brown hair looked stylishly tussled. It was unlike a lot of the other professional photos Percy had seen of Oliver over the years. In those, he looked serious with determination in his eyes. The magazine cover reminded Percy of the Oliver he saw in their shared room in the occasions when they were just hanging out. He liked it.
One of the first tweets was from Oliver’s own account. It had a photo of the magazine cover attached and read: “I have been holding in this secret WAY too long #LoveIsLove”. Percy made sure to follow Oliver.
There were a lot of supportive tweets. Some thirst tweets. There were some homophobic tweets that made Percy’s blood boil. And, of course, there were the sophomoric tweets making the same jokes about Oliver’s name that Percy had heard since he was 11. Wood as a last name was just too easy of a joke.
Percy had some ideas why he hadn’t heard from his other brothers yet, but knew they would want to know or would want to talk about it when they found out. Bill was probably still at work, preparing for his upcoming archeological dig in France this summer. Charlie definitely was finishing up his shift at the zoo, but Percy figured he’d see him soon at the flat they rented together. George was still recovering from his car accident injuries, which included major hearing loss in his left ear, a concussion, two broken ribs, and a broken leg, so his phone use was limited. But if Fred knew, George likely knew. They all were aware of Percy’s adolescent crush on Oliver thanks to a Christmas where Percy got a little too drunk on hot coco spiked with peppermint schnapps and blurted it out during a conversation about rugby. It wasn’t his finest moment.
Naturally, Percy was nervous about what his siblings were going to say. Not about the gay thing- they had all accepted his sexuality when he came out years ago- but about Percy’s old crush. He figured they would either joke about it or sincerely try to hook them up. He wasn’t sure what was the worse option.
Percy decided that the best way to do this was to rip the plaster off as quickly as possible: he decided to text Ginny first. He told her he just saw and waited. Within minutes, his phone buzzed.
Ginny: What are you thinking? Did you have any idea? Are you going to try to talk to him?
Percy stared at his mobile. He wasn’t sure how to answer. Was he surprised? A bit. It was less about Oliver’s sexuality than the fact that Oliver was possibly jeopardizing his career by coming out. In hindsight, a lot of the suspicions Percy previously had had about Oliver’s sexuality in school were confirmed. Oliver never dated in school. Never. Girls would ask him to escort them to Hogsmeade on the weekend or watch a movie with him or be their study partners and Oliver would either make excuses or invite other people- especially Percy- to join. He had even complained to Percy once about it. He and Percy never talked about girls they thought were hot or whatever young, straight boys were supposed to talk about, even that year Percy had dated a girl named Penny (Turns out she was also gay). When Percy came out to Oliver- the first person he came out to- sobbing over his fear of telling his family, Oliver had hugged him tightly and teared up too.
Percy: I don’t know? Honestly, in hindsight, I’m not entirely surprised he is gay. I mean, you could say the same about me. The signs were there. I am surprised he came out in the height of his career though. It’s risky and he was obsessed about playing pro rugby for years. I would like to talk to him again, I guess, but I have no idea how to get a hold of him. I did just follow him on Twitter, but I’m sure he gets messages all the time. And we’re both so different now.
A few moments later, he got a response.
Ginny: Who knows, maybe he’ll slide into your DMs and you’ll have a hot athletic boyfriend.
She included that one gif of Rihanna winking. Percy rolled his eyes. Then, he responded to Ron’s message. Ron’s reaction was “I didn’t bloody expect that” and “maybe you can get yourself a boyfriend who isn’t a massive shithead” with a winky emoji. Percy would have been mad at Ron if he weren’t right. All three of his exes were terrible: Liam was an entitled, rich prat, Patrick loved starting drama with anyone and everyone, and Roger had cheated on him. Twice.
Before Percy even had a chance to respond to Fred, he got a message from him.
Fred: Hello? Are you ignoring me?!
Percy: No. I was in at work and didn’t check my messages until I got to the bus stop. Then both Ginny and Ron beat you to the punch, as I assume you’re referring to Oliver.
Percy’s relationship with the twins was complicated. Growing up, they didn’t exactly get along. He thought Fred and George got into trouble too much and worried about them either hurting themselves or others. The fact they constantly made fun of him a lot didn’t help matters either. They thought Percy was a stick in the mud. Things were better now- not perfect- but better. Their personalities were still wildly different, but there was now at least an understanding.
Being bisexual, Fred was the only one of Percy’s siblings that he could easily talk about guys with, especially in regards to sex. And despite Ginny technically being an adult now, Percy never, ever wanted to discuss sex with her because she was still his little sister. Too bad she was very frank.
Unlike Percy, Fred was actually in a relationship. He was happily dating his old school friend, Lee Jordan. Even Percy could admit they suited each other well and made a good couple. If anyone would actually try to get Percy and Oliver together (other than Ginny and maybe George), it would be Fred. He still regularly joked about Percy’s drunken crush admission, but honestly seemed supportive of it. The twins had been good friends with Oliver at school.
Fred: No, I’m referring the royal baby.
Fred: Of course I’m referring to Wood!
Fred: Damn youngsters beating me to the punch. Need to get off their bloody phones.
Percy: 1) You are 23.
2) Your job is literally making YouTube videos
Fred: Touché
Fred: Did you know? Like, did he ever tell you?
Percy: No, he never told me. Like I told Ginny, in hindsight, I’m not entirely surprised he is gay. He never dated even when there were dozens of girls with crushes on him. I was shocked when I read it though. I think because I wasn’t expecting it? And it’s fairly crazy for him to come out in the height of his career. Your thoughts?
Fred: A bit surprised, but I wasn’t paying that close attention to his personal life in school. I wasn’t even sure he had a life beyond sports.
Fred: He’s fit though, isn’t he? If you don’t snap him up first, do you think he’d be interested in a 3some with me and Lee?
Percy was certain he was turning the color of his hair.
Fred: Just kidding!
Fred: Or am I? ;)
Percy typed a message to George.
Percy: If you are near your twin, can you please smack him for me? But don’t hurt yourself. He’s being a creep.
George: Done
Another text popped up:
Fred: Did you just weaponize my own, injured twin against me?!
Fred: I’m so proud of you.
Percy: I did nothing of the sort. Now stop talking to me, I’m about to switch from a bus to the tube.
Percy wasn’t lying about the Underground switch, but if it meant having Fred leave him alone for 30 minutes, he would have. At least his day ended before the rush hour truly started. While there weren’t many available seats, there was plenty of standing room. After finally reaching the surface after a couple of train switches, Percy finally got a text from Charlie. It was only ten minutes old.
Charlie: You on your way home?
Percy typed out a quick reply.
Percy: Yes, just left our tube stop. You?
Charlie: Just got off a few minutes ago. I’m on my way to the Underground. Want me to bring home takeaway?
Percy: Indian?
Charlie: Sure. The usual?
Percy: Yes.
The walk to Percy and Charlie’s shared flat wasn’t far from the tube stop. Once in their building, Percy stopped by their mailbox- it was primarily spam- before heading to the actual flat itself. It was a decent flat for two brothers living in outer London by themselves. They each had a bedroom and shared all other living spaces. The appliances weren’t the newest, but everything worked and it was clean. Given that they grew up in a family of seven siblings and two parents in a farmhouse in Devon and attended a boarding school on scholarship where they each shared a room with at least one other boy, somewhat cramped rooms weren’t much of a problem.
Charlie’s cat Xena greeted Percy with a large meow when he entered the apartment. He scratched her ears and poured her some dinner. She scurried to her dish.
Percy fidgeted at the kitchen table as he waited for Charlie to get home. He considered texting Bill to get his thoughts, but figured he was still working. He also considered texting one or both of his parents, but decided that was a disaster waiting to happen. His mum would have too many questions that Percy wasn’t ready to answer. He was surprised his mother hadn’t called him by this point. Fred and George were currently living in Devon with their parents because Molly insisted on helping George recover. Either Fred or George hadn’t told Molly about Oliver, she thought Percy was fine, or she thought Percy was too busy to call at the moment.
He decided to play one of the word games on his mobile.
Percy was so engrossed by his game that he didn’t notice Charlie come in until he placed the takeaway on the table.
“Hey,” Charlie greeted his younger brother as went to check on his cat. She was meowing pitifully.
“I’ve already fed her,” Percy said.
Charlie scratched under Xena’s chin. “Sneaky girl,” he laughed.
“How was work?” Percy asked.
Charlie groaned as he sat down.
“That bad?” Percy dug through the takeaway bag to sort out the food and utensils.
“Just a bunch of school groups with the end of the term coming up and the nicer weather. I have a headache from some of them yelling when they see the birds. It just takes a lot of energy to keep up with them and keep the birds from freaking out, ya know? And you? How was your day?”
“Today was the big moving day for the new part of the Victoria exhibit at Kensington-it’s some jewelry and a few tiaras- so I had to make sure nothing bad happened to the collection during travel. Thank God nothing did. The five of us there for transport were holding our breath and had the crown jeweler on call just in case. Emeralds are extremely breakable, you know. I can breathe now.”
“Five of you? Did you even work on the jewelry? I thought you were working on clothes or tapestries or something?” Charlie asked as he scooped a piece of naan through his curry.
“First of all, I’m working on monitoring tapestries for damage, but yes, there were five conservators. There was plenty more in terms of security and curators. I didn’t work on the jewels, but as a newer conservator I tend to get grabbed to do things to see how they are done. It was nice to get out of the basement in Hampton though.”
“You need some sun,” Charlie noted. It was easy for him to say, he was an outdoorsy person. Percy had never been one of those.
They ate in silence for a moment. After a few minutes, Percy decided to take the plunge. “Did you hear the news about Oliver Wood?” he asked.
Charlie looked up. “The Harlequins aren’t planning on trading him, are they? That would be mad. He’s one of their best players!” Clearly no one had bothered to tell Charlie anything. Not to mention that Charlie rarely checked social media. If it wasn’t related to animals or occasionally sport, he didn’t really pay attention. He didn’t have a smart phone for years until everyone else practically forced him. Percy didn’t understand why Charlie lived in London instead of some middle-of-nowhere animal reserve where he’d probably be much happier.
“No,” Percy said, “He came out. As gay.”
“Oh,” Charlie said surprised but not unkindly, “Good for him!”
“Is that it?” Percy asked.
“What more is there to say?” Charlie asked. “I mean, I guess I assumed he was more like me and didn’t care about sex, but I graduated before the two of you really hit puberty and started dating. But I’m still happy for him.”
“Oh. Well, everyone else is kind of suggesting that I should date him,” Percy said.
“Define ‘everyone else’,” Charlie said.
“Ginny. Ron. Fred.”
“Yeah, well, they tend to stick their noses in places they don’t belong. Don’t listen to them. Unless you’re still into him?”
Percy sighed. “I thought I was over him? Like it’s been years since I thought about him in that regard. But with this news coming out, so many feelings came flooding back to me and I don’t know.”
“Are you going to try talking to him? Just as friends at least?”
“I think I’ll try. The hard part will actually be getting in contact with him. I don’t think he has a Facebook page and I rarely check mine these days. I’m not sure if he has turned off DMs on Twitter, but it seems likely. If he hasn’t, I’m sure he gets enough messages that he wouldn’t even notice mine.”
“You’re already making excuses, Percy. The least you can do is try,” Charlie said, sounding very mum-like.
“All right, all right,” Percy said while grabbing his mobile, “I’ll even do it now.”
Opening up Twitter, Percy saw he had dozens of notifications. It wasn’t entirely uncommon. Occasionally, one of the twins would mention him in a tweet- especially if he got dragged into doing a video with them- and it would get retweets, likes, and responses. He was curious what Fred or George tweeted about him now.
It wasn’t Fred or George tweeting about him, but he wished it was.
Instead of Fred making jokes at his expense, the tweet was by one of Percy’s oldest friends. And Percy felt betrayed.
Felicity Simons @BoldFelicity
In honour of @OliverWoodOfficial coming out of the closet, here is a pic of him, me, and @PercyWeasley as George Michael, Whitney Houston, and Elton John at a fancy dress party circa 2011. How were none of us out?
Attached was said photo of Oliver as George Michael in the “Faith” video, Felicity as Whitney Houston in the “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” video, and Percy as Elton John in the “I’m Still Standing” video at the Halloween party during their final year at Hogwarts. While it was a cute photo, it was kind of embarrassing. They were so earnest with their costumes. Their costumes weren’t jokes; they were genuinely celebrating these artists back when it wouldn’t have been cool to do so. It had been a labor of love gathering their thrift store finds and reinventing them to look like the actual outfits.
Felicity Simons had gone to Hogwarts with Oliver and him. She was in their year and lived in the same dormitory, Gryffindor House. While Oliver obsessed over sports and Percy obsessed over schoolwork and history, Felicity was obsessed with music. She was easily one of the best singers in the Hogwarts choir and knew more music theory and history than anyone Percy had every met. They actually spent a lot of time together. The three of them made the weirdest trio. At first glance, they didn’t share much in common. Sure they were all good, well-behaved students who led various activities, but that didn’t make them similar. Under the surface, however, they had a lot in common. They shared a genuine love of 70s and 80s pop. Despite not playing any sport, both Percy and Felicity enjoyed watching them. They had been some of Oliver’s loudest cheerleaders at games. And now with Oliver coming out, they all officially were gay. Percy had come out to Oliver a few months after that photo had been taken, right before Christmas holiday. The next day, on the train ride home, he told Felicity and her best friend Audrey. He had come out to his family over Christmas and word spread quickly once the school term began. Felicity came out as a lesbian about halfway through the final term.
Percy still kept in contact with Felicity, mainly because she was still around. During school, she befriended Lee Jordan and in the past year they started a podcast where they talked about music and pop culture through a Black, LGBTQ lens.
“You look like you just bit into a lemon,” Charlie said.
“Felicity posted a photo of us on Twitter,” Percy said.
“It can’t be that bad,” Charlie replied.
Percy showed Charlie his phone. Charlie smiled. “I think it’s cute,” he said. Percy groaned.
Percy looked through the replies and retweets. Most of them were variations of “OMG” and “LOL”. Then, he noticed Oliver replied.
Oliver Wood @OliverWoodOfficial
Replying to @BoldFelicity @PercyWeasley
I’m still mad that we couldn’t convince @PercyWeasley to dress as Bowie.
Percy’s fingers itched to reply back. He gave into the temptation.
Percy Weasley @PercyWeasley
Replying to @OliverWoodOfficial @BoldFelicity
We said 80s pop stars. Ziggy Stardust would not fit the agreed theme. Serious Moonlight Era Bowie is not that different from Still Standing Era Elton. And I wanted to wear my glasses.
Percy put his mobile down and sulkily ate his chicken tikka masala. He listened as Charlie told a story about keeping some child from feeding a falcon some chips when he thought Charlie wasn’t looking.
Percy checked his phone again. There were more notifications on Twitter. A number of them were nobodies making comments on his response. One was a response from Felicity.
Felicity Simons @BoldFelicity
Replying to @OliverWoodOfficial @PercyWeasley
Ollie, in what world would we have found something properly Ziggy Stardust in a second-hand shop in rural Scotland? #useyourbrain
Oliver’s response was pretty much immediately after that.
Oliver Wood @OliverWoodOfficial
Replying to @BoldFelicity @PercyWeasley
Fair point. I’m just mad we lost Best Group Costume to the Spice Girls. Penny isn’t even a brunette! I highlighted my hair! We went the extra mile!
They had lost the costume contest to the Spice Girls. The group consisted of a number of the female prefects from Ravenclaw House and Hufflepuff House, including Percy’s ex-girlfriend Penny as Sporty Spice and Felicity’s now-girlfriend Audrey as Posh Spice. The three of them were so upset when they lost. Oliver had indeed highlighted his hair to be properly like George Michael in the 80s. Actually, Felicity had done it with a kit bought at the drug store because she didn’t trust Oliver or Percy to do it themselves. Honestly, she made a fair point. Percy was sure that there was some photo at his parent’s house where Oliver was wearing some cap with holes in it that Felicity had used.
Percy sent his own response.
Percy Weasley @PercyWeasley
Replying to @OliverWoodOfficial @BoldFelicity
I think we went a bit too old school for our classmates to get it at the time. By the way, @BoldFelicity how were you not Scary Spice? I thought they asked you?
Felicity replied within seconds.
Felicity Simons @BoldFelicity
Replying to @PercyWeasley @OliverWoodOfficial
Four words: I hate cheetah print.
Percy chuckled and looked back in his notifications. He gasped at what he saw.
“What?” Charlie asked.
“Oliver followed me on Twitter!” Percy exclaimed and showed his brother the proof.
Charlie said, “See, he’s already 5 steps ahead of you.”
Percy noticed he had a direct message. It was either going to be Oliver, Felicity, or some random person that he followed. As he hadn’t opted in for plain anyone to message him on Twitter- having professional YouTubers as brothers nipped that one in the bud pretty quick- those could really be the only options. However, Felicity would normally text him. He had a few “Twitter friends” from the museum and historical preservation community, but it seemed unlikely one of them would message him.
He clicked on the message icon. It was Oliver.
Oliver Wood
@OliverWoodOfficial
Hey, Perce! I know this day is kind of mad with Felicity posting that pic and all and you might not even see this, but I wanted to see if you wanted to like hang out or just chat sometime? I miss talking to you. My number is different from when we were in school. It’s -------------- if you want to text me or call me sometime?
“Oh my goodness!” Percy exclaimed, “Oliver Wood just gave me his phone number! He wants to hang out sometime.”
“Well, shit, he moves fast,” Charlie said.
“What should I do?!” Percy stood up from the table and started pacing around the kitchen.
“Um, give him your number? Text him back?”
“When? Now? A few hours from now? Three days?”
Charlie groaned, “Look, Perce, I don’t have much experience in this realm. If you want actual good dating advice, get ahold of Ginny. All I can suggest is that you look at this from the perspective of an old school friend getting back in contact with you. Not that one of the biggest rugby stars wants your dick or something.”
Percy stopped in his tracks. “Do you think he wants my dick?” While Percy wasn’t opposed to the idea, Oliver never seemed like the type for a one-night stand. And Percy would want more than one night.
Charlie was clearly getting more frustrated and uncomfortable. “I don’t know! I can’t read his mind from across London. I assume he just wants to hang out with you again. You roomed together for seven years, remember? He was one of your closest friends in school. He probably doesn’t know many other gay blokes and I assume he’s probably feeling very overwhelmed right now.”
Percy sighed and flopped back into his kitchen chair. “You’re absolutely right. Maybe I’m not over him entirely, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be a good friend to him. Thanks Charlie.”
“I feel like I’ve missed a step here,” Charlie said, confused, “But if it helps you, great. And who knows, he might just be into you.”
Percy hoped maybe his brother was right.