Work Text:
The moonlight is spilling in through the curtain next to Oliver’s bed. It’s always been his favorite place to sleep, even compared to his room at home. He likes being able to look out at the night sky as he doses off. Even if sometimes it keeps him up later than he needs to be.
Tonight is one of those nights. He feels an itch under his skin. A desire to be out there in the sky, flying through the clouds and seeing if he can reach the moon. He knows he can’t realistically. But damn if he doesn’t want to try.
He looks to his right and sees the curtains to Percy’s bed are closed tightly, as usual. He hates any sort of light coming in at night. But he never makes Oliver close the curtains for some reason. Oliver has a suspicion, but it’s hard to confirm it. Especially with someone as guarded as Percy is.
Sighing, Oliver slips from his bed as quietly as he can and changes into his clothes, not wanting to wake Percy. He carefully wakes his way towards the door, stopping just outside and turning back. Percy’s curtains are still tightly shut.
Smiling to himself, Oliver hurries down the stairs and past the portrait and into the hall. It's deserted at this hour, or at least it seems to be.
Oliver is still careful to keep quiet. The last thing he needs is to be caught by someone like Snape.
Oliver gives a muffled yell when a hand covers his mouth and he finds himself being pulled backwards into an empty classroom. He prepares to go for his wand once the person lets him go until he spins around to find Percy standing there, hands on his hips and glaring at him.
“Percy? What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” Oliver asks as he smooths down his shirt.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Percy says. “Considering you’re the one that snuck out of our dorm late at night to go wandering through the halls.”
“I’m not going wandering,” Oliver tells him. He holds up his broom and grins. “I’m going flying.”
“Are you sleepwalking?” Percy questions, peering at him over his glasses. “Or are you just that dimwitted to think flying at night is a good idea?”
“It’s an excellent idea,” Oliver tells him. He moves back towards the door. Now that he knows it’s Percy and there’s no need for a fight there’s no reason for him not to continue on with his plan. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“Oliver!” Percy hisses, following him out of the room and down the dark hall. “I can’t let you do this.”
“And how exactly are you going to stop me?” Oliver asks him, slowing down only enough to let Percy fall into step beside him. “Are you going to hex me? Curse me? Knock me out and drag me back upstairs?”
“Of course not,” Percy says, sounding appalled at the thought. “But I still can’t let you go. I’m head boy, Oliver. I can’t just let people wander around the school. Even if it is you. I can’t show favoritism.”
That raises a few questions for Oliver. He’s especially curious about why Percy would be showing him favoritism. He stays silent for a moment as he slips out the hidden doors leading outside. One that Fred and George showed him in his fifth year. Percy keeps after him, which makes Oliver smile wider, a new plan forming in his head.
“Are you going to report me Perce?”
“I don’t want to,” Percy sighs. “So please, just come back with me, Oliver.”
Oliver turns to face him, continuing his journey by walking backwards. “Or you could just come with me.”
“I can’t,” Percy says, frown still in place.
“Why not? You’re already out here.”
He stops, taking Percy’s hand in his and closing a little bit of the space between them. “Live a little, Perce. Live with me.”
Percy doesn’t look convinced, but he does look torn. Something Oliver knows he can use to his advantage. He grins and hops onto his broom, looking over at Percy. “What do you say? You want to have a little fun tonight?”
He holds his hand out, still half expecting to find himself cursed or hexed. Percy watches him, his eyes moving across his face, looking for something. He must find it, because to Oliver’s surprise he releases a breath and nods, taking Oliver’s hand and letting him pull him towards the broom. He slips on behind Oliver on the broom.
Oliver looks at him over his shoulder, and reaches out, taking one of Percy’s hands and putting it around him. “You might want to hold on.”
"Oh god," Percy mutters, a moment before Oliver kicks off the ground and sends them soaring into the air. He doesn’t go fast, not at first. He glides through the air, bringing them towards the quidditch pitch where he can fly around, hopefully without being seen.
Percy relaxes the longer they go, and to Oliver’s surprise he rests his head on his shoulder. “Not bad huh?” Oliver asks him.
“It’s not horrible,” Percy says.
“Then I need to step up my game,” Oliver says.
“What do you…?” He gives a startled yell when Oliver shoots off, bringing them higher into the air. He keeps going, so high he thinks he could touch the clouds if he wanted. “Oliver!”
“Relax,” Oliver tells him. “I’ve got this. I need you to trust me.”
“I trust you,” Percy says. “I just don’t trust this broom.”
“Peggy is insulted you would say something so hurtful,” Oliver teases.
“You would name your broom,” Percy mutters.
“Shh,” Oliver says. He puts his hand over Oliver’s as he slows down until they’re hovering in the air. “Just look.”
He nods his head in the direction he wants Percy to look, pleased when he gasps. Oliver can’t blame him. It is a beautiful sight, with the moon reflecting off the water. He glances over and is met with a sight just as breathtaking.
“You’re supposed to be looking at the water,” Percy tells him, his gaze moving to meet his.
“Maybe I’d rather look at you,” Oliver tells him. He takes a chance and kisses Percy’s cheek, smiling at the way his face turns red. “You’re cute when you blush.”
“You’re cute all the time,” Percy says. His eyes widen, as if he’s just realizing what he said. “I mean… Well I meant it. But I just…”
“It’s okay,” Oliver assures him. “I think you’re cute all the time to. In fact I could probably list them…”
“I’d rather you not when we’re in the air,” Percy says, his grip tightening.
Oliver laughs, “Okay then. I have one more thing I want to do and then we can go back down.”
He points the broom down, slowly bringing them towards the lake. He flies over it, enjoying the way the breeze is cooler here above the water.
“Just how many times have you done this?” Percy asks him.
“Not as many times as I’d like,” Oliver tells him. “And never with company.”
“Oh,” Percy says. “Well good.”
“Would you have been jealous, Perce?”
“No,” Percy says a little too quickly. “Maybe a little.”
Oliver laughs as they dismount, turning to look at Percy. He’s smiling, eyes bright in the moonlight, glasses slightly askew. Oliver steps closer, fixing his glasses with a smile. When he goes to pull back, Percy stops him with a hand on his arm.
“What are you doing Perce?” Oliver asks, eyes tracking his movement as Percy comes closer, bringing them chest to chest.
“Living,” Percy says, sounding as breathless as Oliver feels.
Then he’s kissing him, his lips moving hesitantly against Oliver’s, as if he expects him to push him away. Oliver can’t have that. He hooks an arm around his waist and pulls him closer, while his other hand goes up to tangle in Percy’s hair as he deepens the kiss.
“We should get inside,” Percy mumbles against his lips.
Oliver sighs, “And here I thought you were taking a walk on the wild side.”
Percy’s eyes are sparkling with a mischief that’s usually seen in the eyes of Fred and George, but rarely in his. “I am.” Percy kisses him again. “But I thought we might explore that back inside.”
“Oh we definitely can,” Oliver says.
He takes Percy’s hand in one hand and his broom in the other and starts running back towards the castle. They slip inside, and up the stairs without incident. It’s only when they’re nearing the portrait that a figure ahead has them freezing. She’s looking right at them. There’s no reason to try and hide.
“Mr. Weasley. Mr. Wood. I trust you both have a good reason for being out at this hour?” Professor McGonagall questions, looking between the two.
Oliver looks to Percy, who looks just as shocked at being caught as he must. He had been hoping Percy could talk his way out of it, but apparently not. Oliver clears his throat, preparing to say whatever excuse comes to mind first, when Percy finally comes back to himself.
“Oliver was having trouble sleeping and thought a cup of tea might help,” Percy says. “As Head Boy I thought I should escort him down to the kitchens in case he ran into any trouble.”
“The kitchens?”
Percy nods, “Yes.”
“I wasn’t aware the kitchens were near the lake,” Professor McGonagall says.
“Fresh air also helps relax me,” Oliver cuts in.
“And opening a window didn’t suffice?” Professor McGonagall asks, a hint of amusement in her voice. “You needed to go for a midnight broom ride?” When Oliver opens his mouth she shakes her head. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
“What are you going to do?” Oliver asks her.
She looks between the two, eyes narrowed, before sighing. “Nothing, Mr. Wood.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she says. “I must have been sleepwalking. There was no way I encountered two of my best students wandering the castle after taking a romantic ride outside. Now is there?”
Both Oliver and Percy shake their heads, “No Professor.”
“Good,” she says. “Now off to bed, both of you. And don’t let it happen again. Or at least don’t be so obvious.”
She walks away without another word, leaving Percy and Oliver to gape after her. Oliver gives a kiddy laugh as he grabs Percy’s hand and starts pulling him towards the entrance to the common room. “Come on. Let’s go before she changes her mind.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t give us detention,” Percy says. “Or deduct points.”
“You heard her,” Oliver says, leading Percy back up the stairs to their down. “We’re her best students.”
“Two of them,” Percy says.
“She wouldn’t let just anyone get away with this,” Oliver says.
“I think she probably just didn’t want her Quidditch captain missing any games,” Percy tells him.
“Whatever the reason, we got away with it,” Oliver says, grinning at him. “And now, we’re here in our dorm. Alone.”
“We are,” Percy says, stepping closer. “We should probably sleep.”
“We should,” Oliver agrees. They both have class in the morning, but right now Oliver is far too awake to sleep. He can tell Percy is too.
Later they find themselves curled up together in Oliver’s too small bed, the moonlight spilling in. Oliver moves to close the curtain, but Percy stops him. He looks at Oliver and smiles. “Don’t. Leave it open.”
“But you hate sleeping with the curtains open,” Oliver reminds him.
“Not tonight,” Percy says. “I like the way you look in the light.”
Oliver brings a hand up to brush through his hair. “Are you getting sappy on me now?”
“If I am?”
“Well I certainly won’t ask you to stop,” Oliver says. He grimaces when his body betrays him with a yawn.
“I suppose we should sleep,” Percy says.
“You’ll stay here?”
Percy nods and kisses his cheek. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”
It’s not the most comfortable for either of them, but they make it work. In the morning Oliver will see if he’s able to convince Percy to skip their first class and sleep in a bit. Unlikely, but he still has to try. Percy has been full of surprises, after all. The biggest proof of that is in the way he kisses him softly before settling down next to him. He’s more relaxed than Oliver can remember seeing him.
The clouds shift outside and the moonlight glows across his skin, and Oliver smiles. This really is the perfect place to sleep.