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Percy's favorite place was the library. It was free from annoying brothers and sisters, and he could just read or work for hours without anyone interrupting him.
Except when they did.
He started out in the history section, because he had to write a paper about it. But then a gaggle of ten-year-olds had wandered into the aisle and picked up all the books about guns and swords and wars. They proceeded to have an impromptu shoot out, making finger guns and shouting "pew pew!" at each other. So Percy had packed up his things and made his way over to the fantasy section.
But the fantasy section was always crowded. They were all quiet, for the most part, but it was hard to focus when there were always at least three people walking by his table. He held out until one day he showed up and all the tables were taken. He hoped the non-fiction section would be better.
Of course, this was where the elderly gathered for their book clubs. They kept to their table, but after a couple weeks they started sneaking glances over at him. He decided to change locations before they asked him to join them.
He tried the science fiction section for a while, but after two separate incidences where people came in dressed up in what could only have been sci-fi cosplays with crazy hair and faux-metal armor, Percy knew he needed to leave.
With his selections dwindling, he headed over the romance section. When he finished his work, he liked to find a book or two at random to read. The first couple he found in this aisle were okay, a little mind numbing and predictable, but when the fifth one included the characters sliding their tongues into each others' mouths and losing their shirts to reveal their glistening bodies, Percy had slammed the book shut and fled with face redder than his hair. He'd left his favorite pencil in his haste to pack up, but he didn't dare go back for it. He shuddered whenever he thought of even trying.
Eventually he settled into the sports section. It was smaller, and only had two tiny tables set up at the end of the aisle. Fortunately nobody ever ventured down that far. Most took a look at the sign above the aisle that read "SPORTS" in big, blocky letters, flicked their eyes over to his outlandishly red hair and nerdy glasses, and then moved on. Percy had made the one table with the less rickety legs his home for the past several months. Everyday he would come after class, spread his stuff out as much as he could (which wasn't very much, considering how unreasonably tiny this table was), push his glasses up his nose, and then get working. After several hours, his brother Charlie would come wandering in after sports practice, sweaty and grinning. He'd browse the shelves briefly as Percy packed up, and then they would head home together.
But then he started showing up. Winter sports had just ended, Percy knew because Charlie had switched out his soccer cleats for a lacrosse stick, when his private workspace was invaded.
The boy was burly, shoulders stretching tight and broad beneath his shirt. If his muscles weren't enough to give it away, his attire screamed athlete. Tennis shoes, basketball shorts, and a t-shirt proclaiming "Puddlemere United" above what looked like crossed broomsticks. Percy was not a sports person, but the rest of his family was, so the name sprung up a memory of sitting on the couch with his family all around him screaming at the TV as a bowl of chips went flying.
Percy shook his head to rid himself of the memory and turned his attention back on the sports boy. He had brown hair cropped short, and a thick jaw. His arms flexed as he picked up a book and flipped it open. He kept moving down the aisle, picking out books and then mumbling to himself as he scanned the pages. Sometimes he would laugh, or make some exclamation of surprise, or drop a book on the ground, which of course made him yelp, and the book hit the floor with a loud whump. Percy could practically feel the papers crumpling in their unfortunate rendezvous with gravity. The boy called out a half-whispered, "Sorry, sorry!" as he bent down to pick up the book. He didn't even bother to straighten out the pages before shoving it back on to the shelf.
"Keep your voice down," Percy whispered angrily.
"Sorry," the guy said again, flashing him a sheepish grin.
Percy glared.
And then, small stack of books under his arm, the Puddlemere boy walked down the aisle toward Percy and took the other table. The only other tiny table in this miserable section that happened to be two feet away from Percy's.
Percy knew the only area of the library left was the kids' section. But that was out of the question for obvious reasons.
So he hunkered down as this idiot babbled to himself about soccer.
Annoying.
***
Percy was dressed in a button down and khakis. He liked to look presentable and professional at all times. His brothers called him preppy. Percy called them heathens.
Sports Guy was wearing the same shorts he was yesterday, probably. Though Percy wasn't sure what was worse: wearing the same pair of shorts every day, or owning ten pairs of the same black basketball shorts.
He sat at the same table as yesterday, this time with a stack of magazines next to two books. He was even louder now. The magazines seem to require all sorts of call-outs and laughter and objections.
"Excuse me," Percy said, hoping for polite but probably hitting pompous and full of himself. "Please keep your voice down. This is a library and I'm trying to work."
Sports Guy jumped, almost toppling over backward in his chair as he whipped his head around. "Oh," he said eloquently. "Sorry, I forgot."
"Forgot," Percy mumbled to himself. How did someone just forget they were in a library?
"Yeah, sorry." At least he had the grace to look a little embarrassed.
He was just too annoying, though. Percy wasn't able to last through until Charlie finished practice, so he packed up thirty minutes early and stood outside the front of the library with phone blasting classical music through his earbuds until Charlie swung by in the family minivan. He stuck his head out the window, red hair sticky with sweat. "Too much book time today?" he asked jokingly.
Percy climbed in, double checking that his seat belt was secure before letting Charlie drive off. "The books aren't the problem, it's the people reading them."
"Does that mean you're picking new section? I like when you're in the sports section, though, because they actually have stuff I like browsing."
"I'll try to stick this one out."
***
To his credit, Percy did try. But this person just kept coming back, and taking the table next to Percy's, and not keeping his mouth shut. Percy hoped his own teeth wouldn't crack from how hard he clenched his jaw.
"Listen to some music," Charlie suggested one day after Percy went on a wild rant about it. Percy didn't like to listen to music while he worked; he found it distracting, even the "calming" songs he found on YouTube. He specifically went to the library because it was quiet, or at least it was supposed to be.
So he stuffed his earbuds in his ears, and despite having to redo a math problem three different times, he made it until Charlie strolled in at 6:24. Percy started packing up his things, but Charlie didn't browse the shelves as usual. Instead he walked over to Percy's neighbor and let out a very loud, "Wood!"
Several loud, hissing sssshhh!'s came from the neighboring aisles, and Percy, feeling that was very deserved, glared at his brother.
Of course, being the Anti-Library Jock he was, Charlie just waved it off. At least he was quieter when he next said, "I didn't know you came to the library, Wood."
"Dad doesn't get off to work 'til 7, so this is better than waiting in the school parking lot. And since I can't play lacrosse this season because of my wrist, Doc said it'd be better if I just took the season off from competitive sports. Been getting into it too much, pushing my body too hard or something."
"You?" Charlie asked, but he sounded sarcastic. "I can't believe anyone would say that about you."
"Har har. Anyway, what brings you down here? I never struck you as much of a reader."
Charlie jerked his head towards Percy, who had finished packing up his things and waiting with his arms crossed over his chest. "Picking up my brother."
"Brother...?" Then Sports Guy's eyes flicked between their red hair, and his eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh! I guess I should've realized that earlier."
Percy figured now was his chance to cut in. "Can we go now? You're disturbing the other patrons."
Charlie rolled his eyes, and Percy just knew he was scoffing at his word choice. "Alright Nerd, we'll make sure you don't get kicked out of the library."
Sports Guy saluted them. "See you later, Weasley. And... other Weasley."
"Oh hey!" Charlie exclaimed, and was met by another hissing chorus from the neighbors. Percy cringed. "Do you want a ride? I've got an extra seat."
"Really? That'd be awesome!"
And that's how Percy wound up the car with one sweaty, stinky brother, and one book-reading jock. Percy just hoped he'd never find out if Wood was his real name or a weird moniker obtained during some sports stint.
***
Percy was enjoying his quiet at the library and making good headway on his English assignment when Sports Guy entered the aisle. If it wasn't rude to glare at his brother's teammate, Percy definitely would've done it. Especially when Sports Guy took his chair and moved it across from Percy at his table.
"So you're Charlie's brother," he started, and Percy debated how undignified it would really be if he punched this guy in the face, Charlie's teammate or not.
Deciding that would definitely get him kicked out the library with no chance of redemption, he relented. "Yes."
"Cool. I'm Oliver Wood."
"Percy Weasley. Pleasure." Now please leave me alone so I can work, he wanted to say, but he kept that to himself. But then he couldn't stop himself from blurting, "Wood's your real name?"
"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"
Percy pushed his glasses up his nose, hands fluttering around a bit. "Oh, uh, nothing I guess."
"Well before you go making any jokes, know that I've heard them all."
"Noted."
"So whatcha working on?"
Percy felt his guards coming up. He was here to work, not make pointless small talk with jocks, whether or not they read books. "Homework," he answered stiffly.
After several more one-word answers, Oliver Wood got the message and moved back to his table. At least he was (more) quiet this time, scribbling on some loose paper instead of mumbling to himself.
***
"You're coming to the game, right?" Charlie asked on the ride home, Oliver packed into the back with all the gear like he had been for the last two weeks.
"Of course," Percy replied stiffly, because he always came.
"You'll willingly go to a sporting event?" Oliver blurted.
Percy thought about turning around in his seat to glare at him but decided against it. "Yes."
"You should see him when he gets really into it," Charlie laughed. "Jumping up and down like crazy, screaming his head off."
Percy felt the blush crawling across his cheeks and up to his ears. "Do not," he mumbled, but he also remembered doing exactly that when Charlie played in the finals last year and won first place. Fred and George had teased him for weeks, but they had been doing it right along side him.
"Do you still go dressed like that?"
"Obviously not," Percy bristled, though his face burned even more. "I'm not an idiot. At a casual event consisting of sweaty people crammed together, it is important to wear appropriate clothing that can hold up to rough wear. But one must look professional in a professional environment."
"You know we go to high school, right?"
"I'm aware, Wood. But I'm a firm believer that we should have school uniforms. It would encourage people to act more dignified and less like morons."
Charlie waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that so I'm gonna cut you off now before you go into an hour long tirade. I remember when you wrote a letter to the middle school principle about why they should ban gum from campus. You wouldn't shut up about it for weeks."
"It's an important issue," Percy shot back. "Campus would be much cleaner and I wouldn't get gum stuck in my hair every time we had a lock down drill. It's just no one else thought it was important to talk about." Percy sniffed and pushed his glasses up his nose, deciding that was a good time to end the discussion before he started spewing out his ideas non-stop in front of Popular Jock Oliver Wood and made an even bigger fool of himself.
But then Wood said, "I can't get behind you on the school uniforms, but I do agree on the gum thing. It's gross! And super distracting whenever anyone just keeps smacking it while they chew like they think they sound cool!"
So Percy told Wood about his ideal gum policy, and Wood responded in turn, and Charlie kept trying to steer them into a different topic. But Percy was having fun debating these small but important topics with someone, since his family never took him seriously.
When they finally dropped Wood off, he thanked Percy for the debate with a grin on his face. "I had fun!" He waved at them as they drove off, still grinning, and Percy gave his own small wave back.
"Wow," Charlie said after a couple minutes of silence, breaking Percy's mental replay of the conversation, "I didn't think anyone would be able to keep up with you. Let alone Oliver Wood."
"Mmm," Percy hummed, Wood's grinning face popping back up in his mind.
***
When Oliver Wood walked into the aisle, Percy's heart did a weird pitter-patter. He tamped down whatever that was and snapped his head back down to his book.
But Wood was not deterred, and, just like the time two weeks before, grabbed his chair and planted it at Percy's table. "So what's your argument for school uniforms?"
Percy blinked at him, his mind still focused on the chemistry reading he'd been doing. "What?"
"I can't imagine there'd be anyone, especially a student, campaigning for school's to require uniforms. So what gives?"
Percy put down his pencil and pushed his glasses up his nose to get serious. "I'm not saying we need to go as stringent as Catholic school uniforms. But students should dress up to a standard. Work places have a dress code, so schools should too."
"We do have a dress code, though." Wood looked genuinely interested in what Percy had to say, and it threw him a little off kilter.
"Not strict enough, though," he countered after a pause that went on a beat too long. But Percy would not get outwitted by a dumb jock. "The saying is 'dress for success,' but high schoolers don't abide by that at all."
"But what about self-expression?"
A decent argument, Percy reasoned, but predictable. So he rebutted like he always did, and Wood countered back with mostly generic arguments, but he offered a couple curve balls that made Percy think. And it was nice to have someone who was willing to honestly object and have a real conversation about it. Fred and George would do it just to rile him up, to see if Cool and Collected Percy would finally blow his top (which he did, several times).
But it was fun with Oliver, who was genuinely curious about Percy's opinions.
That is, it was fun until they got kicked out of the library. Percy had a tendency to get a little heated in arguments, getting so lost in the subject that he forgot to keep his volume in check.
When the librarian scurried over with a disapproving look on her face, he hung in his head in shame and packed up his things. Oliver was failing to hide his snickering behind his hand. So they moved outside, Percy horrified and Oliver amused, and lapsed into silence
"You're really passionate about the whole uniform thing," Oliver finally said.
"Yeah."
"And you're good at debating, too. And I know you probably think I'm just some dumb jock, but you didn't mock me because of that. So, thanks."
"Nobody else takes me seriously about these things. Thanks for not treating it like a dumb idea."
"Sorry for getting you kicked out, though."
"At least it's just for the day."
They smiled at each other, and Charlie gave them a funny look as he pulled up in front of them, but Percy found himself looking forward to coming back to the sports section tomorrow.
***
It was a home game on Saturday. The twins had gotten caught up in some scheme that landed them in trouble, so Mum and Dad were busy dealing with that. That left Charlie to drive the rest of them to the game, and since he had to warm up before playing, they arrived an hour early. Bill's girlfriend was also at school, though she was finishing up some tournament that ended with a giant maze, so Bill went to help her, leaving Percy in charge of Ron and Ginny. They pulled up seats in the front row, and Percy left Ginny and Ron to bicker next to him as he snapped open a book.
Then Ron stopped his squabbling. "Who's that?"
Percy looked up from his book to see a grinning Oliver Wood climbing his way into the stands towards them. They made eye contact and Oliver grinned wider, giving a jaunty wave Percy barely remembered to return.
"Oliver! What are you doing here?"
He stood in front of Percy, for once not in basketball shorts, though the team uniform was basically at the same level. "I can't play this season, but Coach still wants me at the games. You know, moral support."
Percy didn't really know, and especially didn't know why that required wearing a team jersey, but he nodded anyway.
"It's weird seeing you dressed down like this."
Percy looked down at his clothes, a plain tee and cotton shorts, and realized this was the first time Oliver was seeing him outside of school. "It's weird seeing you not wearing basketball shorts," he countered.
Oliver laughed a little awkwardly, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck. "Ah, yeah, I guess I do wear those a lot. You look good, though, today. I mean, you look good normally too. I mean, I think it all suits you." He was slowly getting more and more flustered, his face turning a warm shade of red, and he ended his stammering with another awkward laugh.
Percy could feel himself starting to blush too, but thankfully Ron and Ginny had returned to their own little world, probably after realizing Oliver was a friend of Boring Percy. "Oh, uh, thanks. You... well, your style could use a little work."
Oliver let out a surprised laugh at that, and it seemed to dispel some of the awkwardness. "I'll keep that in mind."
"So what position do you usually play?"
"Keeper." Oliver grinned, and planted his hand on his hips. Percy's eyes trailed to his biceps as they flexed with the movement. His eyes snapped back to Oliver's as he continued talking, "Soccer's really my sport, though. I'm gonna go pro one day."
"That's impressive."
The continued to chat as the stands filled up, until Oliver's coach called him over once the game was close to starting. But before he left, he said, "Hey, you know I was thinking we should walk to library together. Since we both go anyway."
Percy tried not to smile too much. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
"I'll pick you up at your classroom on Monday, then." Oliver left with a cheery wave.
"Why's your face so red?" Ron asked.
"Just watch the game." But Percy felt something blooming in his chest. And it had clearly made its way to his face, going by the funny look Ron gave him.
Ginny piped next to him, "Yeah, you've got a weird smile, too."
Percy hid his face behind his book until the game started. He would've tried to shut them down with hard facts and good arguments, but there was no way they'd take him seriously with how flustered he was.
When Charlie's team won, Percy was jumping up and down in his seat with the rest of his family cheering right along side him, and Oliver turned and caught his eye. Percy flushed right up to his ears, but he grinned when Charlie pulled them all in to a sweaty hug.
They were all riding high on the drive back home. Fleur was in the middle row with Ginny, but Charlie offered Oliver the last open seat. Percy got the middle seat in the back because "he was skinniest," and despite Ron's bony elbows digging into him from one side as he flailed about, Percy found he didn't mind being squished up against Oliver.
"So I guess you really do scream your head off," Oliver whispered next him.
"Shut up," Percy replied, as his debate skills had fled his brain and that was the only response he could muster.
***
Oliver met him outside Percy's last class just like he said, backpack slung over one shoulder and crooked grin on his face. They took off together, Percy's backpack hooked over both shoulder like it should be, and they left the now gossiping students behind them.
"Have you ever considered running for Student Body President?"
Percy shook his head. "No one would vote for me."
"Really?"
He rolled his eyes. "Come on Oliver, have you met me?" Percy purposely looked down at his button down and khakis, pushed his glasses up his nose on the way back up. "I'm lucky I'm not bullied."
"You have a vision though," he pressed. "And like a purpose and stuff. That's already your platform. Then you could fight for the changes you believe in."
"Changes that most people wouldn't get behind. Face it, I'm a nerd with big dreams that I know won't be taken seriously by my peers. But I've accepted that. My purpose in life is outside high school, where being a nerd isn't made fun of."
Oliver looked down at his shoes, and his ears turned a little pink before he mumbled out, "I think you're pretty cool."
"Oh." Percy's ears were probably matching now. It felt like his heart was running a marathon inside his chest. He didn't have a good rebuttal for that one.
***
"Are you just coming to the library because you can't play sports, or do you actually like reading this stuff?"
Oliver looked up from his book on sporting equipment. "Jocks aren't brainless, you know. We actually read. The good one's especially."
"Charlie doesn't read."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "That's because he's already good and doesn't want to get great. If he went pro, he'd definitely have to read more to keep up. Sports aren't just physical, you know. There's a mental part too. And not just while playing. You have to keep up to date with how the other teams are doing and what strategies they're implementing. Like what's successful, and what's not, and why. There's also lots of studies on how injuries affect players physically and mentally. I'm gonna become team captain of a professional team one day, and so I'll need to know about that to understand why my teammates aren't at their best or how to support them when they get injured."
"I never thought about that." Percy prided himself on being able to find unique arguments, that weren't generic or easily refuted. Maybe Percy didn't know as much as he thought he did. And maybe Oliver wasn't a Dumb Jock. But Percy couldn't let the debater inside of him stay quiet, "Can't you learn a lot of that stuff by watching games and interviews on TV?"
"Well, sure, but everybody watches those. That's what's gonna give me the edge. Especially with studies. The news will talk about studies on concussions, but it's a very superficial overview. To really understand it, you need to read the studies."
"That's... actually pretty smart."
"Really?" Oliver looked at Percy with a giddy smile, and Percy flushed.
"Yeah," he muttered, shoving his glasses up his nose to try to hide his red cheeks. "I think you're smarter than most people give you credit for."
It was Oliver's turn to flush, but he was still smiling as he ducked his head. "That means a lot, coming from you."
***
Oliver came down the aisle of the sports section. He wasn't wearing basketball shorts this time, and no sports jersey either. He had on jeans, and his t-shirt had only a small sports insignia on the front. He glanced at Percy before practically flinging himself into the shelves and grabbing a book seemingly at random. Then he stalked the rest of the way down the aisle and dragged the other chair over to Percy's table like he did every day and plopped himself down.
Percy watched all this with a raised eyebrow, as Oliver opened his book and kept his gaze on it. There was no scribbling, no mumbling. Just silence as Oliver stared at a single point on the page.
"How was your meeting with your team?" Percy asked, since Oliver had repeatedly mentioned it as to why they wouldn't be walking to the library together today.
Oliver looked a little startled when he jerked his head up. "Meeting? Oh, right, it was fine... yeah."
Percy's eyebrow went even higher up his forehead. "Something on your mind?"
"Yes, actually." Oliver snapped his book shut without saving the page, though Percy was pretty sure he hadn't really been reading it anyway. "I want to get coffee with you. Wait, I mean, do you want to get coffee with me?"
"Right now?"
"No." Oliver fidgeted with his book. "Just, in general."
Oh. Percy remembered when Bill had been fretting over how to ask out the girl he liked. Ask her to go out for coffee, Charlie had said, It's usually romance-coded, but if she doesn't seem into it, you can pass it off as just hanging out. Percy wondered if "team meeting" actually meant asking Charlie for advice. Charlie gave good romantic advice, despite never wanting to date anyone himself. Oliver also hadn't worn his basketball shorts, which meant he was actively trying to dress better. Percy's stomach made a funny little flop at the thought.
But, "I don't like coffee."
Oliver was quick to fire back. "Despite the name, coffee shops don't have just coffee. You could get something else."
Percy smiled. Not a bad counter-argument. "Yeah, that'd be fun."
"Really?" Oliver's eyes were wide and hopeful, his cheeks dusted pink.
"Yeah." Percy hardly agreed to anything so easily; his family would sure make fun of him if they knew. That meant he would probably have to work on his debate skills more, but this was something he didn't want to fight against.
***
"Have fun on your date!" Charlie called out before driving away from the coffee shop.
They both blushed a furious red, but when Oliver grabbed his hand, Percy thought maybe getting stuck in the sports section wasn't that bad.
He'd definitely have to petition the library to get a bigger table for their aisle, but with Oliver backing him up, he had a feeling he might be able to make this change stick.