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Immediately following the gift exchange, Percy returned to his and Oliver’s shared dorm, the gorgeous leather bound book he’d received from Marcus in hand, and with the most smug grin on his face as he gushed about how well everything had gone while he finalized packing to return to the burrow for the winter holidays.
“He liked his gifts so much that when he wished me happy Christmas he actually called me Percy and not just Weasley or Weasel ,” Percy practically bragged to Oliver. He spoke quickly, as he tended to when he was truly excited about something, blushing as he set his book down, looking over his desk to ensure he hadn’t forgotten to pack any of the schoolbooks he wanted to bring back home with him. “He showed off the self correcting ink to his friend and he tried the dueling gloves on right away and–”
“You sound like a lovesick idiot,” Oliver commented, cutting off the other boy from his red faced rambling. “It’s nauseating.”
“I do not,” he protested, but his behavior, though mostly involuntary, suggested otherwise. Still, he tried to collect himself. He cleared his throat and remained focused on his desk. He slipped his Divination book into his bag.
“You do so,” Oliver said, clearly unconvinced. He’d known Percy for a long time now, and he was all too familiar with how Percy acted when he was excited about something he liked. Usually those things were books, of course, not other boys, but the signs were the same. Rosy cheeks, enthusiasm behind his usually even tone, vehement denial when being called out, the way he’d become embarrassed.
Percy had a crush, Oliver was positive, and Oliver wanted to tease him about it, but he thought better of getting on his friend's bad side before the extended school break.
“What did you get from your Secret Santa?” Oliver asked, hoping to change the subject, if only slightly, for now.
Percy let out an amused huff, grabbing his book from his desk and crossing the room towards Oliver’s bed, where the other boy laid with a Quidditch magazine. He extended the book in his hand to Oliver. “From Marcus,” he said simply, actively working to not over react, a subtle smile on his face the only indication of how thrilled he actually was with his gift.
“Marcus was assigned to you as well?” Oliver asked and shook his head, giving Percy a smirk. “I’m surprised he got you something and didn’t just show up to collect on his gift.”
Percy scoffed, though he couldn’t exactly blame Oliver for assuming that Marcus would have been thoughtless – the two opposing captains didn’t think very highly of each other after all.
“He asked the librarian what my most checked out book was. Said he figured I needed my own copy,” Percy said, taking his book back from Oliver and adding it to his bag with his Divination book – he’d planned on reading for the duration of the train ride tomorrow. He kept his back to Oliver for a good moment after the book was safely in his bag, giving his face a moment to cool off, the grin he’d had on his face as he spoke to Oliver had his cheeks warm, and he wasn’t looking to be teased further.
Oliver clicked his tongue, his lips pulling into an upside down grin – a look of both surprised approval and amusement. “How cute,” he said sarcastically with a playful roll of his eyes.
Percy huffed, spending too long fussing with his bag at this point, but his damn cheeks still felt like they were burning. His hand came to the back of his neck, his head tipping back slightly before he unclasped his hand and turned back around. “You can tease all you want but none of this would have happened if you hadn’t signed him up.” Percy said pointedly. “This is all your fault.”
Oliver set his magazine down on his bed and put his hands up in surrender. Percy was right, after all.
~~~
Percy was grateful for the holiday break over Christmas and New Years. Not that he was doing anything out of the ordinary – just spending time at home with his family, but still, he enjoyed the quiet moments when he was able to shut himself into his room to think. Having Oliver as a roommate at school wasn’t terrible, but if he had the option, he’d prefer to be alone. At least, that’s how he felt at the moment, when even weeks after that silly gift exchange, he couldn’t look at that damn book without thinking of Marcus. It was embarrassing and unlike him.
He hardly knew the boy, but the way Marcus blushed before they’d parted ways in the Great Hall was burned into Percy’s mind. That, and seeing him trying on those dueling gloves… Percy would take it to his grave, but he’d spent longer than he’d care to admit imagining Marcus’ hands gripping and flexing around things besides a wand. Percy knew what it meant, but damn, it was hard to come to terms with. Why’d he have to feel this way for such a difficult person? The thought was short lived, though. Percy knew that anyone could wonder the same of him. He was difficult, too. Stubborn, uptight. Was Marcus wondering about him? Percy hoped.
He hadn’t anticipated thinking of Marcus for two weeks straight, but it was the reality of things, and he was dreading heading back to the castle because of it, convinced that if the Slytherin so much as glanced at him, his feelings would be as good as legible on his forehead.
~~~
The Hogwarts Express wasn’t quite as crowded during the holidays as it was at the start of term. Percy had found Oliver while waiting at King’s Cross station, and the pair found a compartment together on the train – Percy forgoing the up front seating where he, the head girl, and the prefects would typically sit, for a quieter train compartment– and Penelope would join them as the students slowly filed in.
A discussion of what they each received for Christmas and what they’d all done over the holidays would ensue as the train left the station. Percy and Penny had kept in touch, exchanging letters via owl over the holidays. She’d been much more receptive than Oliver of his ramblings about Marcus, and did he ever ramble, but as well-meaning as Oliver always was, he was horrible when it came to returning letters. Neither of the friends were surprised to hear he’d simply been too busy spending time with his family, practicing quidditch and strategizing plays, to write to them.
The catching up was relatively short lived – it had only been two weeks after all – and before long, their train compartment fell into a comfortable, relative quiet, each of them focused on their own thing – Penny studying, Oliver revising a quidditch play he’d scrawled down previously, and Percy reading yet another new book that he’d received for Christmas. This one, Charlie had given him – an informational read about dragons. It wasn’t something he’d typically reach for, but he’d never turn his nose up at a new book or at an opportunity for conversation with his older brother.
All three of them had been startled when after an hour or so, their compartment door slid open, the clatter of the metal door against the track breaking their focus as their heads snapped towards the sound. Marcus Flint stood in the narrow aisle between compartments, one hand gripping the sliding door as he leaned in through the opening.
“There’s a bit of a situation, think it requires the Head Boy,” Marcus said, his sharp eyes and sneer turning into a smirk as he watched Percy swallow hard, slowly closing his book.
“What kind of situation? Shall I fetch a professor?” Percy asked, nervously glancing to Oliver then to Penny before looking back up at Marcus. He was rarely ever nervous while performing his Head Boy duties, but something about the look on Marcus’ face told him that whatever this was about fell outside of the scope of his training.
Marcus shook his head. “Best you just come and see,” he said and tipped his head towards the aisle, gesturing for Percy to follow him, and so he did.
Marcus pulled open the door of another compartment clear on the other end of the train and ushered Percy inside before following him in himself. Marcus took a seat first, sitting back, relaxed, with his arms folded against his chest, Percy standing there confused at the complete lack of an apparent situation. The compartment was empty besides the pair of them.
“What did you actually need me for?” Percy asked, raising his brow and folding his arms, despite feeling some nerves. Being alone in the compartment with Marcus had him feeling a bit self conscious, and the neck of his jumper felt like it was a bit too tight.
“Just sit, I only wanted to talk to you,” Marcus said.
Percy nodded and found himself doing as he was told without much of a second thought. Talking wasn’t a bad thing. He didn’t have to be nervous. “...Talk about what?”
Marcus shrugged. “Well… How were your holidays?” he asked.
Percy stared at him blankly, his mouth moving to reply, but nothing coming out because he was just so caught off guard by the mundane question. “ How were my holidays? Surely you didn’t pull me away from my book and my friends to ask me how my holidays were.”
Marcus let out a scoff, clearly offended that Percy hadn’t immediately taken him for his word. Becoming defensive, he leaned forward, his forearms coming to rest on his legs (which Percy couldn’t help but notice were spread unnecessarily far apart) with his hands folded together. Percy was certain this was meant to intimidate him in some way, but all it served to do was distract him a bit and make his mind wander, his cheeks going rosy.
“I bloody well did, I wasn’t going to sit in that compartment with Wood of all people to converse with you,” Marcus said.
Percy stammered, but he could certainly agree that chatting in the other train compartment would not have gone over well. “Okay, alright! I get it… I was just… surprised you’d asked,” he said.
Now to reply without admitting he’d actually done a hell of a lot of nothing, apart from thinking of him and his damn hands and how his teeth might feel against his skin… “My holidays were nice enough. I got to spend some time with my older siblings who no longer live at home and visited with extended family as well. How were yours?” he managed to ask with much less ease than he typically operated with.
“Exhausting,” Marcus admitted, sitting back against his seat once again. “Formal parties, uncomfortable clothing, and boring conversations with my father and his colleagues. Couldn’t wait to get back on this train, even when it means back to classes and revising.”
Percy was surprised at how candidly Marcus spoke with him, almost like they were friends. Were they friends? He did like that thought. Before he could get too far into his daydreaming though, Marcus continued, jumping right into a story from his holidays.
“Had a friendly little duel with one of my cousins after Christmas dinner,” he began, a toothy smirk and a mischievous raise of his brow indicating that the duel was likely less friendly than his family would have preferred. “Wore those gloves you got me. They’re really nice, you know? Leathers got a more coarse grain than my old pair, good grip. He hit me with an aguamenti charm but I kept hold of my wand, ended up knocking him on his ass.” He looked quite pleased as he recalled the event.
Oh… That was how friends spoke to one another, and that filled Percy with a warmth that made his palms feel sweaty. Percy’s lips pulled into a grin, picturing the scene as Marcus described it. He was glad he’d liked the gloves, especially after how long he’d mulled over what to buy him. He wiped his palms off on his knees and focused intently on keeping his face from reddening to match his hair.
“Glad they’re seeing their good use,” Percy said, a genuine smile on his face. He’d opened his mouth to say more, to tell Marcus he’d made use of his gift over the holidays as well, but Marcus wasn’t finished.
“How’d you know I wanted new dueling gloves, hm?” He asked pointedly, sitting forward again, absolutely trying to be intimidating this time.
Percy’s stomach dropped, realizing he’d been getting ahead of himself in assuming they’d become friends so easily… He was so stupid thinking Marcus Flint of all people would actually pull him aside only for a bit of pleasant chit-chat. Stupid! He had just been thinking wishfully, and he should have known better. Of course Marcus simply wanted to know how he’d gotten roped into the damn gift exchange in the first place.
Percy’s palms were sweating worse than before, but now it didn’t come with that pleasant little tingle in his stomach that felt like a blooming friendship. No, now he felt sick. “Well, I didn’t–”
“I saw some other people’s letters. They had their assignee’s name and a list of gift ideas written by that person, but I didn’t fill out a damn thing. I thought about not participating, but that probably would have earned me a detention,” he said, looking at Percy with an accusatory gaze.
“Yeah probably…” Percy agreed, then took a breath, gathering the nerve to be honest. He was sure his palms were leaving sweaty marks on his knees at this point so he put them flat on the seat at his sides. “Look, I apologize that you felt pressured to participate in that gift exchange, but I didn’t sign you up, it was Oliver. He told me after the fact, and trust me, I gave him a piece of my mind about it. It was against the rules, and in hindsight, I should have reported what he did, but I didn’t. He did it to distract you from thinking about Quidditch–”
“Of course it was Wood! And he gets on my ass for ‘not playing fair,’ what a load of rubbish,” he said, taking on a mocking, sing-song tone when it came to Oliver’s opinions of him. He scoffed, shaking his head. He didn’t seem angry though, he was more so amused, which only left Percy confused and on edge at the switch.
“It fuckin’ worked, though,” Marcus added. “Took me long enough to convince Pince to show me your book borrowing history, she wouldn’t believe that I wasn’t just up to no good! And then you went and got all red in the face when you saw the book,” Marcus said and groaned, one of his hands coming to run through his hair, messing it up before landing back on his chest and crossing with his other arm. He was smiling now, and looking Percy over the same way he had back in the Great Hall before the holidays – like he was someone worth looking at. “It was cute. I couldn’t stop thinking of it – of you – no matter what I tried.”
Surely Percy heard him wrong. Marcus Flint did not just refer to him or any of his mannerisms as cute. Cute was a word that Percy was positive was not in the Slytherin’s vocabulary. Unable to be subtle, Percy wiped his hands on the tops of his legs, then tugged gently at the neck of his jumper because he was positive he was simultaneously going to boil alive and choke to death in that moment.
“Pardon?” Percy managed to croak out.
“I said, it worked. Wood’s plan. You’re cute. It distracted me from Quidditch, all through the fuckin’ holiday, actually. Was quite annoying, to be honest,” Marcus said, seemingly finding great pleasure in the way his words made Percy squirm in his seat.
Percy was beside himself, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that in his mind they’d just gone from friends to definitely not friends to having the potential to be more than friends in just the last five minutes. It was so much more than Percy could have hoped for when Marcus had pulled him aside to talk and it was making his stomach flip, and this time it wasn’t because he felt sick.
Percy took a beat before replying, trying to gather the words he wanted to say while his brain was turning to mush. He perhaps should have taken another beat, though, because what he’d managed to spit out was only barely cohesive. “Oh, well, sorry… For distracting you, that is. But, thank you? For being cute. I mean! You are also cute to me, bloody hell,” he said and immediately sighed, his forehead meeting his hand in frustration with himself.
Marcus laughed, but there was something almost affectionate sounding behind it.
Percy found himself feeling horribly envious of how Marcus was able to say what he’d been thinking with such ease. He took a breath before looking up to meet Marcus’ eyes, the other boy meeting him with a surprisingly understanding look.
“Don’t think anyone’s ever called me cute before,” Marcus said and grinned, baring his teeth. He was absolutely chuffed. “You mean that?”
Percy nodded, finding solace in the fact that he wasn’t the only one here who felt the need for the reassurance of the other’s words. “I do mean it.”
Marcus could comment all he wanted on how rosy Percy’s face tended to get, but right now, his cheeks were brilliant shades of pink as well, and Percy found it adorable. Percy let out a breath, finally feeling like he wasn’t suffocating, and gave Marcus a grin, sharing in his earlier amusement.
His comfort was short lived, however, because Marcus’ only response was to scoot forward, sitting at the edge of his seat, his knees brushing Percy’s legs as he crept into his space. He braced himself with one hand planted on the seat beside Percy as his upper body crossed fully onto Percy’s side of their compartment. Before Percy could even register what he was doing, Marcus had his chin in his calloused grip and was guiding him closer, until their lips met.
Without any bit of warning, Percy took a moment to actually participate in this moment he’d been waiting and hoping for – as though he was still too stunned to believe that it was even happening, that his nonsensical ramble of reciprocated feelings had actually earned him this.
But he felt Marcus’ rough fingers on his jaw, felt the warmth of his lips and breath, and he kissed him back, his own hands finding purchase in the fabric of Marcus’ emerald jumper. Marcus slid his hand back, to the nape of Percy’s neck and pressed his tongue against the other boy’s lips in search of entrance, and Percy didn’t fight it. He parted his lips and felt Marcus’ tongue against his, letting out a groan from the back of his throat as their kiss grew more heated. Marcus’ other hand moved to grip at Percy’s waist and Percy found himself wondering just how far things would go if they weren’t currently aboard the Hogwarts Express with relatively little privacy. This thought had Percy retreating into his head, ever the overthinker, and he pulled back slowly, catching his breath.
“Sorry about that,” Marcus said and smirked, sitting back slightly. He had a cocky grin on his face as he took Percy in, his freckles fading on red cheeks, glasses just slightly askew, his curls a bit more unruly than usual.
“I don’t think you are, you look quite pleased with yourself,” Percy said and let out a huff of amusement, completely flustered but very pleased with his luck.
“You’re right, I’m not,” he admitted, still looking very smug.
“I should go back. Oliver and Penny…” Percy muttered, glancing at the compartment door.
Percy stood and smoothed out his jumper, but Marcus caught his wrist before he could even turn to leave. “You really going to run off on me?” he asked.
“I mean–”
“I’m coming with you,” Marcus said and stood as well, sliding open the compartment door decidedly. He gestured for Percy to lead the way. His mind was made up.
“You’re serious?” he asked, looking at Marcus as though he’d surely been joking. “But earlier–”
“I know what I said before, but I’d like to have Wood truly regretting his little ploy,” he said, a mischievous grin on his face. He took a step closer to Percy and brushed his hand against the other boy's cheek before pressing a kiss to it.
Percy’s face was on fire once again and he felt as though his blush would permanently stain his cheeks so long as Marcus was near.
Even so he had to admit, as awkward as it would inevitably be, he didn’t totally hate the sound of Marcus joining him and his friends. Though it had certainly worked out in his favor, Wood deserved a bit of recompense for breaking the rules in the first place, and some payback for teasing him before the holidays as well. “Alright then, come on,” he agreed.
Marcus followed Percy down the long aisle to the other end of the train, where Percy slid open the door of his previous compartment and stepped inside, Penny and Oliver both looking up as Percy sat down, and Oliver doing a double take as Marcus came in and sat down casually beside Percy.
Confident and smug as ever, Marcus rest his arm behind Percy along the backrest of the seat, and though he didn’t protest, the proximity in front of his friends had Percy fidgeting with his sleeves and fighting the grin off his face. Though silent, the message was loud and clear.
Penny looked thoroughly amused and knowing, while Oliver groaned audibly and closed his playbook. “You’re messing with me,” he asserted, narrowing his eyes at Marcus then looking to Percy.
But Percy shook his head. “Like I told you before the holidays, this is all your fault,” he said and smirked, gathering a bit of his usual sass.
Having Marcus at his side now, as new and surreal as it was, made him feel like he wasn’t alone in his corner. Percy could get used to that feeling.