Chapter Text
Sunday lunch was a post-war tradition for the Weasley family, one that was absolutely unpermissible to miss. Even Charlie was ordered to travel all the way from Romania, despite the fact that it took him several apparitions to make his way across Europe. Percy hadn't come at first, because he'd figured that no one wanted him there, taking up space where Fred should have been. Luckily, Ginny had set him straight, and he became a permanent fixture at the lunches.
This Sunday, however, was a very special lunch, as it was doubling as Harry and Ginny's engagement party. No one was shocked at how fast Ginny had proposed to Harry after graduating from Hogwarts, except for Harry. Percy was ordered to show up early to help prepare the Burrow for guests, and he appeared at exactly 11, with a punctual crack.
Casting his coat aside (it was much warmer than he'd expected), Percy made his way to the kitchen, where Molly, George, and Bill were bustling around. It turned out that George was almost as good at cooking up food as he was at cooking up pranks, and he'd started to take over the kitchen.
"What should I do, mum?" Percy asked, startling her.
"Oh! Percy, dear. You can start setting up tables, and hanging up the decorations." she gestured to a pile of red and gold decorations, everything from table covers to streamers.
Percy nodded and waved his wand a little, levitating the decorations to follow him out of the room and into the grassy field surrounding the Burrow. He'd soon distributed the tables uniformly across the lawn and laid the table cloths on them. He was hanging streamers in the trees, enchanting them to resist the wind, when he heard someone approaching in the grass behind him.
"You've got a knack for this, Perce." Ron said.
"It's just some basic charms." Percy said, not turning to greet his brother.
"No, really. It's quite complicated spellwork." said another voice, causing Percy to lose concentration and spin around.
"Hermione!" he greeted. "I didn't hear you."
She grinned, tossing her bushy hair back, the wind immediately pushing it into her face again. "I suppose Ron's footsteps do drown everything else out."
"Hey!" Ron protested, but he was chuckling nonetheless.
"Well, Mrs. Weasley sent us out here to help you, but it looks like you're about done. Shall we head back in and see what chore is next?" Hermione offered.
Percy nodded, muttering one last incantation before sliding his wand up his sleeve and accompanying them across the lawn.
"There were quite a few tables." Percy noted. "Do you know how many people are coming?"
"Ginny invited nearly the entire league, and Harry invited most of the department. That, along with all the Weasleys make about 200 guests." Ron explained.
Percy gave an impressed whistle, holding the door open for the two of them.
"Oh, Percy. You're done already?" Molly asked, glancing out the window as if she could check his work from far away.
"It looks great, mum." Ron reassured. "We didn't even need to help."
She sighed, but put it aside. "In that case, Percy, you should go get changed. People will be arriving soon, and I want you there to greet them."
Percy glanced down at his outfit, the nicest robes he owned. "Change? What for?"
Molly tsked. "Don't be ridiculous, Percy. I have something picked out for you. It's up in your old room. You'd better hurry, you need to set out the silverware before people come."
Percy glanced at the clock. It was, in fact, getting dangerously close to the time people would be arriving, and he sensed that arguing with his mother would end badly, so he sighed and made his way up to his room.
Percy had to admit that the robes laid out on his old bed were very nice, but there was no way he would wear them.
That was one of the disadvantages of moving out, he decided. His parents now had more money then they'd ever had, and lots of time to spend it.
Still, his mother had enough on her plate. He really shouldn't bother her just because he didn't like the clothes she'd chosen for him. Sighing, he took off his robes and folded them neatly, changing into the dark blue robes.
Molly didn't spare him a second glance as he descended the stairs, but Ron and Hermione, who had been joined by Harry and Ginny, paused their conversation, all of them looking Percy up and down with strange looks on their faces.
"What?" asked Percy. "Have I got something on my face?" he raised a hand to his cheek wondering if he'd somehow gotten some glitter there from the decorations.
"No, Perce." Ginny assured. "You just look... very different."
"Good different." Hermione added reassuringly.
Percy shifted uncomfortably, hiding his hands in his sleeves. "Alright..." he said unsurely.
Just then, a loud shout was heard from outside. They all raced out of the door, and were met with a familiar sight.
Charlie, who, Percy noted, hadn't been forced to change, was setting out the silverware, but apparently doing it all wrong. Mrs. Weasley had a fork gripped in one fist, brandishing at Charlie. "-the soup spoon goes first, Charles! Why is it so very difficult for you to understand?"
"Mum." Harry called. "Here, put that down." Showing massive amounts of bravery, Harry walked forward and carefully pried the fork from Mrs. Weasley's hand, setting it on the table. He then led her away, muttering softly about how Percy and Hermione and Ron would be happy to take care of it. He threw a look at Percy as he and Ginny escorted the harried Mrs. Weasley inside, back to the kitchen.
Percy peered at the table settings. "For Merlin's sake, Charlie. Everyone knows that the salad fork comes before the dinner fork." he swapped the silverware around until it was in its proper place. Ron and Hermione were both looking at him strangely, so Percy took that as a sign that not everyone knew that the salad fork comes before the dinner fork.
He cleared his throat. "Anyway, there's a spell for that." he waved his wand and the table setting straightened itself immaculately. He brushed his hand over the table, knocking everything out of place. It sprung back to perfection, meaning he'd cast the spell correctly.
The others looked duly impressed, and tried knocking aside the table settings themselves. "Where do you learn all these useful spells, Percy?" Hermione asked.
"Well, the one for the decorations I learned from mum, I think I saw her do it once."
"And what about this one?" Hermione gestured at the table.
"Ah-well, that one was actually taught to me by Penny-Penelope Clearwater, that is." Percy said.
"Wasn't that your old Hogwarts girlfriend?" Ron was grinning broadly now, mirth in his eyes. "Why did she know that one?"
"She wanted to be a wedding planner, I think." Percy said, moving to the next table to set it as well.
"You know, I think she might actually be on the list for the party today. She's an auror." Charlie said thoughtfully, mimicking Percy's wand movement. He threw a suggestive look at Percy. "You should try to find her and... reconnect."
Percy hummed noncommittally, turning away from Charlie, pretending to fiddle with a tablecloth. What Charlie didn't know was that Percy had no interest in Penelope Clearwater–he'd barely had any interest in her back at Hogwarts, it had been a very one-sided relationship.
No, his attentions were elsewhere at Hogwarts.
Percy realized he'd just cast the enchantment twice on the same table, and tried to shake his thoughts away. He estimated they had only a few minutes before the time that had been written on the invitation, and a few tables left.
"That's all!" Charlie called, mationing for Percy to join him in front of the Burrow. He was met by the rest of the family. He gave a short nod to his father, as he hadn't seen him yet.
"Percy, where'd you get those robes?" George asked teasingly. "Any place that can make clothes that look good on you must be exemplary."
Bill smacked him in the chest. "Don't be so rude, George."
Molly cleared her throat. "It's 11:54." she informed them. "You all know your assignments?" She was met with blank looks and shaking heads, and her gaze traveled angrily to Arthur. "Arthur, you haven't told them? What have you been doing all this time, then?"
He cleared his throat guiltily and glanced at the garage. Molly rolled her eyes, and turned back to them.
"Alright, then. Bill, you and George will be in charge of the food. Keep an eye on it, make sure nothing burns, and serve when I tell you too. If you want, you can take a break to look after Victorie and Fleur can help George, but one of you needs to be there at all times. The rest of you–“
She gestured to everyone but the happy couple. "–you will mingle, make sure everything is running smoothly. If anything is going wrong, alert me immediately. If someone gets too drunk, there's sobering potion in the bathroom."
Finally, she turned to Harry and Ginny. "You two need to stay at the entrance for at least thirty minutes. Greet everyone. If you can't remember their name, end the conversation as quickly as possible."
Percy realized that Molly had forgotten an assignment, and he briefly debated keeping it to himself. Pointing out that the teacher had forgotten to assign homework had gotten him in trouble plenty of times at Hogwarts. But this wasn't Hogwarts, and this was important.
"Mother, you've forgotten Auntie Muriel watch," he pointed out.
"Ah, of course." she rubbed her forehead. "Well, I was going to make Charlie do it, for messing up the silverware–“ Charlie glared at Percy. "–but since someone neglected to give everyone their assignments, I think he should do it." she looked coldly at her husband, who seemed to physically shrink.
There was a loud crack, and up on the hill, people started arriving. Molly looked at them all, alarmed. "Alright, it's time! Go!" she shooed them all away, bustling back into the kitchen.
Percy psyched himself up for the ensuing conversations as they stood in a neat line at the foot of the hill, allowing people to make their way down to them.
The first person to reach them was a very excited Deadlus Diggle. He clasped Harry's hand vigorously, eyes shining with tears. "My deepest, most sincere congratulations, Mr. Potter!"
Luckily, Harry was used to it by now, and he smiled back graciously and thanked Diggle for coming, passing him off to Ron and Hermione, who escorted him to the tables, chatting about how incredibly thrilled they were for Harry.
Slowly, the grassy lawn filled in and Percy slowly fell into a pattern. Greet someone, thank them for coming, and move on. As more of the younger people filed in (older wizards had a tendency to arrive on time for whatever reason), Percy felt more and more people looking at him. With each moment, he regretted not looking at himself in the mirror. There was no way he looked that good. He was probably wearing a Kick Me sign that his siblings had neglected to tell him about.
At that thought, he reached his hand up to check for anything on his back. There was no sign of a paper. "Got an itch?" came a lilting voice from behind him. Percy recognized the voice immediately, though it had been years.
"Penny!" he greeted, spinning around. He saw Ron give him a discreet thumbs-up from behind her, but tried to ignore him. "No, I was just wondering if there was a kick me sign. I feel like everyone's looking at me."
Penny laughed. "No, there's nothing there. I think everyone is looking at you because you look good."
Percy blushed and dropped his gaze to the ground, mumbling out a "Thanks."
"So, how are you?" she asked, searching his face as if it would give her the answer, though she should have known by now that it never did.
"Alright." Percy said. "I've been busy with my bookstore, and now helping my mum plan this."
Penny actually looked interested when she asked "You own a bookstore?"
Percy nodded. "Up in Hogsmeade. I started it a year back. Turned out ministry work wasn't for me." he laughed nervously. In all honesty, he had no idea if Penelope knew about his betrayal. They'd broken up after Gryffindor had won the House Cup and had only spoken once or twice since.
It seemed she didn't, as her brow creased a little. They fell into an awkward silence, and Percy was glad when Charlie tapped him from behind.
"Percy, sorry to interrupt, but a load of Ginny's quidditch mates just showed up. I'll need your help."
Percy threw an apologetic look to Penny. "It was good catching up." he said, following Charlie up the lawn.
A large group of rowdy quidditch players were clustered together, surrounding Ginny and Harry. Ginny was laughing and talking loudly with them, her voice battling for dominance among the myriad of other voices. Harry stood by her, looking mildly uncomfortable.
The group of players noticed them approaching, and quite a few of them looked Percy up and down appreciatively. He resisted the urge to hide behind the much larger Charlie. One of the women stepped forward, extending her hand to shake. "Hello, I'm Morgan. You must be Charlie." she purred to Percy. He noted that she had a rather heavy American accent.
"Ah-no." Percy corrected, flustered. "I'm Percy. That's Charlie." he gestured to Charlie. Morgan turned to Ginny, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said Charlie was the good-looking one." Ginny didn't even have the shame to look embarrassed as she shrugged.
"I guess he cleans up well." Ginny said.
"I'll say." Morgan said, once again looking at Percy. Percy wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and die of humiliation, but he pushed it away, trying to control his blush.
He opened his mouth, unsure what he was going to say, when someone roared. "CHARLIE!" and a form came barreling out of the mass of quidditch players and tackled Charlie in a huge bear hug. "It's been too long, you bastard. I can't believe I haven't seen you since school!"
Charlie laughed loudly. "Oliver Wood, in the flesh." He clapped Oliver on the back, and Percy felt his heart skip a beat. Of course Oliver was here. He played in the same league as Ginny, and he was friends with both Harry and Ginny. Percy felt a familiar tug of longing in his stomach, which he supposed happened if you shared a dorm with someone for seven years and never admitted your feelings for them.
Oliver unwrapped himself from Charlie, and turned to face Percy. "And you! Share a room with someone for seven years and never talk again, eh?" Percy swallowed as Oliver hugged him as well, though not nearly as hard as he'd hugged Charlie. "I forgive you, Perce." he said graciously, leaning back.
Percy felt a familiar spark of annoyance. "Percy." he corrected instinctively. Then, a moment later he caught himself. "Sorry." he said, feeling his face go red. "Old habit. You can call me Perce." For some reason, Oliver laughed, and Percy realized that he was still wrapped in Oliver's arms. He stepped back carefully and looked at Ginny.
"Oh, yes." she murmured to Harry, her gaze moving back and forth between them. "They were roommates."
"Oh my god. They were roommates?" Harry asked back, no doubt unable to imagine the loud, bosterius Oliver living with the fussy Percy.
Percy ignored the exchange, and addressed Ginny.
"Should I take them down, or do you want to start the arm-wrestling contests now?" He was being sarcastic, of course, but some of the players looked at Ginny hopefully.
"Ha ha." she deadpanned. "You can take them."
Percy nodded, and motioned for them to follow him, Oliver still at his side. "So, Percy," Oliver started. Percy felt a little flicker of happiness hearing Oliver say Percy. "What's it like at the Ministry?"
"Oh, I don't work there anymore." Percy dismissed.
"What?" Oliver demanded, horrified. "But the 40-point plan! You were going to be minister and make it illegal to hate quidditch!" Percy recalled the large poster that he'd hung up on the wall in their dorm, complete with every step he needed to become minister. Oliver had added the law about it being illegal to hate quidditch, and Percy had decided to humor him.
"I suppose you'll just have to become minister then, because I'm not doing it." Percy said, glancing at Oliver.
Oliver laughed, which surprised Percy. "The state of the world would have to be truly terrible for me to become minister." Oliver said to Percy, stepping over a root. Percy didn't have time to formulate a response before Charlie clapped Oliver on the back and engaged him in a conversation about Puddlemere.
As the large group of quidditch players claimed several tables, Percy excused himself, making another round through the tables. He was speaking with an Auror about wand rights when his mother grabbed him by the arm. "Come help us in the kitchen." she ordered, dragging him back to the Burrow.
Inside, the kitchen was a mess. There were dozens of silver trays, each with an array of small canapes on it. "Take one, and start making rounds." she told Percy. "If you see any of your siblings, tell them to do the same." A little bit startled, Percy took a tray and, watching it carefully, he made his way outside. He found Hermione quickly and relayed the instructions, keeping one hand on the tray as people plucked the canapes off of it, Percy made his way to Charlie, scanning the lawn for more red heads.
His tray was soon empty, and Percy hurried back to the now-full kitchen, picking up another tray. This time he found himself making his way to the loudest part of the party, the quidditch players. Once he was there, his tray was empty within seconds as the unruly group fought among themselves.
"Thank you, Percy." Morgan said, a broad smile on her face. She let her hand linger a moment too long on his arm before turning away. Percy swallowed, unsure how to stop her advances politely. He shook the thought out of his head, as he arrived at the kitchen once more. Molly greeted him, looking a little bit more calm, now that appetizers had been distributed without anyone dying.
"Go and socialize some more." she ordered. "Make sure everyone is happy." This sounded like absolute torture to Percy, but he allowed himself to be led back outside. I'll stay outside for ten minutes, then say I need to go to the bathroom. He told himself. Hopefully that'll be enough.
His spirits raised by the prospect of break, Percy smiled, saying a brief hello to all of his extensive family. He quickly whispered to Ron that he was going to the bathroom as he trekked up the lawn, hitching up his robes to avoid grass stains, though it was a bit late for that.
"What's the point of having a party," he muttered to himself. "If you're just going to be working the entire time?"
"Well, it's for the guests, isn't it?" Oliver's voice startled Percy and he flinched, looking up.
"Oliver!" he yelped. "I didn't see you there."
"I was just in the bathroom." he said, pointing his thumb up the stairs. Realizing that Percy probably needed to go to the bathroom as well, he shifted to the side. Percy knew that this was the signal for him to leave, but he ignored it.
"Oliver—Morgan, she plays for Puddlmere, right?" he asked instead.
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Yes, she's a beater. She'll probably be capitan next year. Why? Did you want me to set you up?"
"No!" Percy exclaimed. "No, it's not that. I was wondering how I could get her to... back off?" he trailed off, a little embarrassed. Oliver laughed.
"I can tell her to back off, if you like." he offered, but Percy shook his head quickly. How terribly rude. "Well, you’re pretty much trapped then. You’re being very subtle with your rejection." he explained, shrugging.
Percy sighed. It looked like he was going to have to avoid Morgan all day, because he was definitely not going to confront her head on. Oliver seemed to sense this, and he gave Percy a pat on the shoulder. "Good luck with that." he said, striding out of the Burrow.
Percy climbed up the stairs as slowly as he could, making a pit stop in his room, just to waste more time. He saw that his neatly folded clothes had fallen to the ground, and decided he might as well clean that up, and if it delayed him going back to the party, so be it.
"Percy?" Bill whispered from behind him. Percy spun around to see him leaning in the doorway, watching Percy.
"Oh, hello, Bill." Percy said. "I was definitely not avoiding anything and I noticed my clothes weren't folded, so I decided to fold them."
Bill nodded understandingly. "I was just putting Victorie down for her nap." Percy nodded back, setting his clothes on the bed. "So," Bill ventured. "I saw you talking to Penelope Clearwater."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Yes, we were catching up."
"I hear you two dated after I left." Bill said, his lack of subtlety glaringly obvious.
"Yes, we did. And then we broke up." Percy said flatly.
Bill nodded, a smile on his face. "Of course. Well, I have to get going. You should probably do the same before people start to notice you're gone." By 'people,’ Percy was sure Bill meant their mum.
Percy nodded, letting Bill push himself off the doorframe and exit the room.
After enjoying the silence for a moment more, Percy made his way back down the stairs, poking his head in the kitchen to see if they needed any help there. Fortunately, they declared that it was time to serve the food and enlisted him in doing so, setting up a buffet under a tent.
Lunch passed without a hitch as well, and as Percy started to vanish the dishes, he reassured himself that this was the home stretch. Just cake, and it would be over.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, Percy was accosted by his arch-nemesis.
Hestia Jones.
Surprising everyone, she'd taken over Flourish and Blotts after the previous owner had died. She and Percy had been locked in a fierce competition for customers since then. "Percy!" she greeted, overly enthusiastic.
"Hestia." he returned, equally enthusiastic. "How are you?" What he meant was How many customers do you have? but he couldn't say that.
"Good!" she smiled hard at him. "How are you?” How many customers do you have?
"I'm doing well, thank you." Ever since he'd started stocking school supplies, he'd started getting a lot more business from students who were running out of quills or parchment.
Percy was spared from another moment of conversation when loud laughter boomed out from the quidditch players area, startling the entire party and making several of the older guests glare in that general direction. He saw Molly gesturing at him furiously, and quickly excused himself.
"Get some sobering potion in them!" she ordered. Percy wanted to protest, but she was already gone, her wand tapping nervously in her hand.
He sighed, resigned to having to face Morgan again, and got the potion from the bathroom. As he approached them, he tried to pick out who was drunkest, knowing he wouldn't have enough of the stuff to be able to administer it to them all.
"Percy," Oliver greeted. "Need some help?"
Percy looked at Oliver, a little bit suspiciously. "You're not drunk, are you?"
Oliver chuckled. "No, but I know who is. I can help you give that out." He pointed at the bottle in Percy's hand. Percy nodded, letting Oliver take the potion and pour some out for those with the most flushed faces and most slurred speech.
Luckily, Morgan was not among them. and Percy was able to keep himself busy with administering the potion.
"Oh, blast." Oliver muttered. "There's none left."
"There are a few more in the bathroom." Percy said. "I'll go fetch them."
"I'll come with you." Oliver said quickly. "We can carry more that way." This was perfectly logical, so Percy nodded and accompanied Oliver up to the house. He noted that the grass had been trampled by so many comings and goings that a clear path had been formed right up to the door.
"I'm getting more potion, mum." he called into the kitchen. "Is there anything else?"
"No, dear. Just focus on that." came the reply.
Percy made his way up the rickety stairs, Oliver trailing behind him. They grabbed three bottles of the potion, just to be safe, and started their way back down the stairs, Oliver accidently knocking into Percy in the cramped space.
Percy didn't know why, but he released a breath when they emerged from the Burrow. There hadn't been much space in there. Oliver was silent all the way down the lawn, and as Morgan complimented Percy on his commitment and offered him a drink.
Percy evaded the conversation as politely as he could, not missing the amused smirk that Oliver was wearing. He was glad when the quidditch players had been sobered enough that he could return the potion to the bathroom.
"I'll do it." Oliver offered, holding out his hands. Percy noticed a bright red line peeking out from under the sleeve of Oliver's robe. Without thinking, he grabbed Oliver's hand and pulled down the sleeve. There was a long, thin cut on his forearm, dripping blood. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Percy noted that Oliver's hand was warm and calloused and quite nice to hold.
"Oliver!" he exclaimed. "When did this happen?"
Oliver tried to tug his hand away, but Percy held onto it. "I dunno." he evaded.
Percy tsked. "Alright, sure. I'll come up to the house with you and clean it up. There are some bandages in the bathroom."
Oliver looked like he wanted to protest, but Percy channeled his inner Molly, glaring at him so hard he shut his mouth quickly. From beside him, Morgan looked between the two of them, her eyes lingering on their joined hands. "Oh, I see." she murmured.
"What?" Percy and Oliver asked simultaneously.
"Nothing." she raised her eyebrows, taking a sip of her drink.
Percy felt like there was something more, but Oliver's cut was still bleeding. "Alright, let's go." he dragged Oliver up the lawn, walking into the Burrow for what felt like the millionth time that day.
"Mum!" he called. "Oliver's cut himself, so I'm just going to bandage him up. I'll only be a few minutes." There came no response, and Percy guessed his mother must have been outside. "Oh well." he muttered, leading Oliver into the bathroom.
The bathroom was by no means small, as it had accommodated 9 people at its peak, and Percy was able to maneuver to the medicine cabinet without brushing by Oliver. He pulled a bottle from the shelf, checking the label. "Drink this." Percy directed. "It will make you less dizzy." Oliver obeyed silently, taking a seat on the ground, his robes pooling around him.
Percy rummaged around some more, cursing his father and his new organization system. Finally, he found some disinfectant and bandages. "Arm." he ordered, turning to face Oliver. Oliver stuck out his arm, still silent. "This is going to hurt." Percy warned, taking a seat across from Oliver. "So, what have you been up to lately?"
Oliver looked a little surprised at the sudden change in topic, but he answered anyway. "Well, training mostly. The season starts in two weeks, you know."
Percy hummed. "Yes, I know. Are you planning on staying with Puddlmere next season?" Just as Oliver opened his mouth to answer, Percy dabbed at his arm to clean out the cut. Oliver hissed, blinking rapidly.
"I—yes, I'll be staying with Puddlmere." He gritted out.
Percy nodded, dabbing at the cut again. "I think I saw something about you transferring in the Prophet, but that's probably false."
"Yeah, it's false." Oliver said. "I don't know how that rumor got started."
"Okay, done with the painful part." Percy announced, leaning back. He found that he was reluctant to release Oliver's arm from his grasp, so he didn't. He felt Oliver's gaze on his hand as he reached up to pluck the bandage from the counter.
He didn't want to admit it, but Percy's fingers lingered too long as he slowly wrapped the bandage around the length of Oliver's forearm, using too much bandage for the relatively minor cut. When he finished, he brushed his fingers over the bandage one last time, making sure it was secure.
When he looked up, Oliver was looking, entranced, at where Percy's hands had been seconds ago. "Thanks." Oliver said. His voice was raspy.
"No problem." Percy said back, his eyes rising to meet Oliver's.
Percy knew they should probably stand up and go back to the party; cake would be cut soon. But they just sat there, suspended in a moment that stretched out for an eternity.
Finally, they were pulled out of the haze by a bird giving a loud squawk from outside the window. Percy flinched. "We should–ah–get back to the party."
"Yeah." said Oliver. "Yeah, we should." Despite this agreement, both of them remained sitting on the floor. Percy felt his heartbeat speed up as Oliver started to lean forward, his eyes fluttering closed. He let instinct wash over him as Oliver's lips met his. Oliver tasted like oranges and mint, and Percy couldn't get enough of him. The kiss deepened as Percy leaned forward so that he was sitting on Oliver's lap, raising his hands to run through Oliver's silky hair.
Oliver whimpered into Percy's mouth, making Percy smile a little. He started kissing down Oliver's neck, leaving a trail of purple marks in his wake. Oliver whispered something into Percy's hair, but Percy couldn't hear it over the thudding of his own heartbeat.
“Ahem.”
Percy pulled away from Oliver slowly, looking at the door. Bill was standing in the doorway, very unsuccessfully trying to hide his smile.
"Percy, there you are." he said. "Mum told me to come find you. We're about to cut the cake, and she wants you to do it since you're so... skilled with your wand." he seemed to realize the innuendo halfway through his sentence and trailed off, starting to turn red. Oliver coughed loudly, his shoulders shaking. Percy discreetly yanked on his hair, shutting him up.
"I'll be there in a moment." Percy said, hoping Bill couldn't tell how breathy his voice was. Bill smirked, meaning that he could, and nodded, turning and leaving the bathroom. Eyes wide, Percy turned to Oliver.
"I–“
Oliver smiled, kissing Percy softly. "Go," he reassured. "We can talk later." Percy nodded, clambering up and checking his appearance in the mirror once before rushing out of the bathroom.
There were several people clustered around the cake, looking impatient. Percy felt a twinge of guilt and pulled out his wand, determined to make the most symmetrical cake slices in the history of wizardkind.
"Sorry, Mum." he said before she could say anything. "Oliver cut himself, and I was just helping him." Bill snorted loudly, which Percy chose to ignore as he sliced the masterpiece of a cake (he'd have to compliment George on it later) into pieces, which his family was soon distributing.
All in all. Percy thought as he folded up the tables later that day. The party had been one of his favorites.