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Percy glowered in Olivers direction, and held back a smirk as Oliver sat back down on his bed.
"Where do you think your going?", he asked, resisting the temptation of pressing his hands over his pyjama clad hips and imitate his mother. He settled for crossing his arms over his magicaly flattened chest.
Oliver had the decency to look meek,"I... Wasn't going anywhere?"
Percy dragged his eyes over Olives body, which was draped in hastily put together quidditch robes. The Captain still clutched his broom which put any argument to whatever cover story he might have had in a bitterly untrue light.
"F-fancy dress party?", he tried.
Percy quirked his eyebrow,"Go to bed, Wood"
Oliver blinked stupidly and opened his mouth, unable to speek.
"Go to bed", Percy repeated, trying (and failing) to be kind.
Oliver pouted and threw his broom onto the carpet between their beds, he was acting like a child. Percy opted for treating him like one, too.
"What? Do you want a bed time story? Do I need to tuck you in? Kiss your head? Go to bed"
"Fuck off", Oliver grumbled, untying his shoelaces and kicking them onto the floor beside his broom.
"It's not safe, Oliver"
"Oh, we're only friends when I'm doing as I'm told, huh?"
"My best friend just got petrified, I refuse to let the same thing to happen to you"
Oliver huffed, and rolled back onto his bed, turning his back to Percy.
"I'm serious. I don't know what I'd do if..."
Oliver didn't reply, Percy opted for not talking at Olivers silence, and stared at the back of his head.
"I don't want to loose you, Oliver"
"I just wanted to have a quick fly", he groaned, stuffing his face into his pillow,"I wasn't gonna die"
Percy closed his eyes and waited, fighting against his dreams.
It didn't take long for him to give in.
***
He woke up to the door clicking shut some time later, and cursed as he grabbed his jacket and slipped intohis shoes as he raced down the stairs, chasing after Oliver, who was already halfway out of the common room.
"Oliver!", he hissed, but the boy just spead up, pacing towards the door and setting off into a run as soon as he'd passed the portrait hole.
Percy hated how his heart clenched.
He wandered back up to his room and picked up his book.
He was back in the common room in less than a minute, curled up in a blanket, awaiting Olivers return.
***
He woke up back in his bed, still tired and thoroughly confused. He yawned and pushed his hair from his face. Oliver was in the bed across the room, asleep and clad in his muggle t-shirt. The one with a big packet of butter on the front.
Percy tugged his blanket closer, and realised it was the one from the common room sofa. Which ment... Oliver had carried him to bed?
He blushed so much that he turned up late to breakfast.
***
In history of magic, Percy slid into his seat and tried to listen to Binns, but he was too tired to focus. And his gaze kept falling through the professer and onto Oliver.
He looked tired too, and kept reaching into his bag to shove scraps of sandwich into his face, but aside from that there seemed nothing off about him.
It was almost like he'd snuck out of the dormitory hundreds of times before and he didn't feel like he had anything to hide...
No, Percy would have noticed... right?
Oliver met Percys eye, and it took a whole minute of staring for him to realise they had made eye contact at all.
He was reminded (yet again) that Oliver must have carried him to bed. He felt his cheeks heat rapidly and tore his gaze from Oliver.
When he looked back, Oliver had his head burried in his arms, almost like he was asleep. Something that felt like warm syrup filled his stomach. Nostalgic... nearly... lovesick.
Oh shit.
***
Dinner was spent in the library, where Percy switched between daydreaming (his least-favourite-most-favourite passtime) and copying out the rest of his transfiguration essay. He'd taken to re-writing out his notes in all the classes he shared with Penelope so that she'd have something to revise from in the comming year.
Maybe she could have gotten all of the notes from the her teachers, but at least it made him feel... useful. He couldn't save her, couldn't go back and stop her from being petrified, so he made up for that in the only way he could, with the only thing he was good at; Academics.
It was past curfew when he snuck out of the library and wandered back to his room, giving Filtch a tight nod as he stalked past.
At least his prefect badge counted for something.
When he got back to his dorm, Oliver was sat at the end of his bed, knee jumping like crazy as he chewed on his thumb.
"You okay, Oliver?"
He jolted and turned to Percy, there were tears in his eyes but he looked... absolutely livid. Oh dear.
"You prick!", he snapped, giving Percy a hard shove that made him knock the door, that slammed into its frame.
"Wh-"
"I thought it got you- You- You- FUCK!", he kicked his bed, and pawed at his wet eyes.
"...Oliver?"
"Fuck off"
Percy felt his heart clench and shook his head,"Ollie", he tried.
"Don't fuckin' call me Ollie, ass", he snapped, throwing himself onto his bed,"I don't like it"
Percy sighed heavily and sat on the end of Olivers bed,"Sorry"
"You should be sorry", Oliver mumbled back, face still firmly pressed into his pillow,"I thought you were dead"
"Well, you did leave last night"
"Oh, so it's alright then", Oliver snarled, managing to sound mean even though his voice was muffled,"You got me back. Well done. We're even"
"No, that's not-"
Oliver sat up, and stared down at his lap,"I'm sorry, if I upset you yesterday, but that wasn't fair"
"I didn't do it on purpose, Oliver", Percy watched a tear snake down his face,"realy, I didn't. I wouldn't do that"
Oliver launched himself at Percy so fast that Percys head slamed against the bed post. But they were hugging. Which was A) new and B) very uncomfortable in the current position.
But also it was Oliver, in front of him, all over him. Percy hadn't even registered they were hugging before his arms slid around Olivers back,"Hey...", he whispered, burying his face in the crook of Olivers neck,"Hey, I'm okay..."
Oliver quaked and shivered in his arms, and Percy found that his heart kept splintering and stabbing at his chest. It was nice that every single part of him wanted to be closer to Oliver, but he didn't like the idea that his vital organs were litteraly tearing themselves apart to get to him.
Oh well, sacrifices have to be made somewhere.
***
Oliver and Percy came to an unspoken agreement, no leaving in the middle of the night to do quidditch and no studying past curfew. Well, that was supposed to be the agreement. Maybe.
Unspoken agreements, Percy decided, actually suck, because anyone can break them and get away scott free, because no boundaries were actually built and no rules were actually made.
Meaning that Oliver sneaking out when he thought Percy was finaly asleep wasn't technically a brea h of contract.
And technically, Percy wasn't allowed to be upset about it, but he was.
Oh merlin, he was pissed.
***
When Oliver got back to the dorm, Percy glared at him. Watched angrily as he stripped to his boxers and pulled on a t-shirt. Not the butter one, this one had a Ziggy-Stardust on it. Percy didn't know what a Ziggy-Stardust was.
Oliver glanced nervously at him,"Perce?"
Percy didn't say anything, and kept glaring, he even went so far as to cross his arms. He threw a pout into the mix. (Hey! In for a galleon, in for a nickle!)
Oliver sat down next to him, right on the edge of the bed, as though he were afraid Percy might take a swing at him, and he might need to make a fast escape.
"Are... you okay?"
Percy tried to ease his features into something resembling impassive. But it realy didn't work.
"Perce?"
"You left", he mumbled,"I thought..."
He was suddenly realy glad it was friday (maybe saturday) because he was in for one hell of a night.
Oliver was quite for a long time, and Percy chanced a look at him, just to see if he'd fallen asleep. He looked torn. Like he was ready to flee, but also... he looked sorry. His face said more than his voice could, which was often infuriating, but Percy was suddenly verry glad. Oliver could choose to keep his mouth closed, but he couldn't keep his expression shut, at least Percy had learned to read him.
"It's fine, Oliver, go to sleep"
With that, Percy dove under his covers, and closed his eyes, waiting for Oliver to get off his bed and stumble through the dark towards his own.
Eventually, Oliver got up, and the snap of the bathroom door told Percy he could breate again.
He stretched his legs into the cold of his covers, there Oliver had sat. He took a deep, verry awake breath and rolled onto his side, shuffling towards the wall.
His eyes were drooping by the time his matress dipped again.
It was Oliver.
Obviously.
"What are you dooooing", Percy whined in a hoarse whisper as Oliver slid under his covers.
"Well... If I'm in your bed then you'll wake up if I try to sneek out, so... um. You don't need to be worried."
"Me telling you to stay doesn't work", Percys voice sounded like sleepy venom, even though he sank easily into Olivers arms chest,"This is totally not gonna work"
***
Another thing about unspoken agreements, when they change, develop, or a re-written... it kind of feels wrong to bring it up. If you couldn't talk it out the first time, why would you need to explain plan B?
Well, for lots of reasons, apparently.
Firstly, it had become unnervingly common to find Oliver lounging on his bed, or, when Percy reurned to the dorm too close to curfew, under his covers oogling a quidditch magazine.
It was beginning to feel... intimate.
But what did Percy know? The only person he'd ever supposedly been with had been a relationship of rumor and annoying make-believe from his brothers. (Yes, Pennelope Clearwater- how did you guess?)
In all honesty, Percy was beginning to suspect something other than heteronormative behaviour from Oliver.
Which was maddening, because he couldn't say a thing. Couldn't ask or say or do anything at all.
It was beginning to make his heart stutter when Oliver lent in, and make his face flush when they woke up nose to nose.
He was going out of his mind.
***
Some night in mid may, Oliver tried to get out of bed, and huffed as Percy dragged him back under the covers.
"Need to pee", Oliver whined.
"You'll pee, then you'll go. And I'll be mad. And you'll be mad. And it sucks-"
"Perce, realy I need to pee."
"No-"
"Otherwise I'm gonna end up pissing all over the both of us and I'm pretty sure neither of us are into that"
Percy shoved him out of bed, and took pleasure in his groan of pain,"Percy-"
"Go pee then", He huffed, and rolled his eyes in the dark.
Oliver huffed back at him and scampered towards the bathroom.
Oliver returned and shoved his cold hands at Percys back,"C'mon... Peeeeerrrcy!"
Percy rolled over,"F'cough"
"Pardon you", Oliver giggled,"Wash your mouth, you dirty boy!"
Percy snorted and lifted his duvet, making just enough room for Oliver to slip under the covers.
Percy lay awake for a long time, thinking about Oliver and Oliver and Oliver. About kisses and hugs and sleeping in each others arms.
He fell asleep slowly, and dreamed of a boy on a broom with a crooked smile and eyes that flared with love. And lips that kissed him and kissed him and kissed him. He dreamed of that, too.
***
Nights later, with Oliver in his arms, Percy started awake. He stared at the ceiling wondering what could've pulled him from his dreams.
Olivers face was drawn tight,"Don... Stay back... Perce- Perce- don't go- don leave..."
And then Oliver was perfectly quiet. Impossibly quiet. Percy hated it. Something was wrong. He sat up sp that he was cross legged, facing Oliver, so that he could lean over him.
"Oliver?", Percy murmured, shaking his friend awake,"Ollie?"
His eyes flew open and his arms tied themselves around Percys waist. Olivers head parked on Percys hip and his chest pressed uncontrollably against Percys legs.
But he was shaking again, and Percy wasn't about to kick him out of bed.
He sank his fingers into Olivers hair and scratched his scalp in what he hoped was a soothing manner.
"It's okay, Oll, It was just a dream, it's okay now, it's okay..."
Eventually Oliver stopped crying into Percys shirt and managed to let Percy reposition them, so that Percy was sat against the headboard and Oliver was lain gently against his chest. Percys head reasted on Olivers shoulder, swaying to a tune that only Percy could hear, bumping into the side of Olivers head from time to time.
They were quiet. For a long time.
"What was it about"
"Huh?"
"You dream?"
"Oh... Um, it getting you, I suppose"
"It? The thing that's petrified students?"
"Yes"
"Dont you think I'm too clever for it to get me?"
"I do, obviously my subconscious doesn't, though"
"Subconscious? Big word", Percy teased.
"Don't be mean"
"But it's my personality!", Percy whined, wrapping his arms around Oliver and bumping his chin atop the other boys head.
"It's not"
"Then what is, Ollie?"
"Well... you're kind to the younger kids and you care about your family. Your study freak and a prefect with an ear for rules and an eye for those breaking them. Your caring and passionate and a grifffindoor to heart. You let me be an idiot even though you hate idiots"
"I like my idiot"
"And- And I'm... Your idiot?"
Percy nodded, head butting against Olivers,"Yeah"
Oliver closed his eyes,"I like the thought of that"
"Do you?"
"Mhhm"
***
It was tuesday morning when they woke up late for breakfast and more tangled up in each other than they'd ever been before.
"Hurry up!", Oliver called, and gloweded as Percy shoved open the bathroom door (immaculate as ever) and dove towards his satchel, sweeping the entire contents of his desk into the bag, before running past Oliver, and shoving a hard kiss against the corner of his mouth.
Why had he done that!
He raced out of the door and showed up to the great hall with just enough time to shovel half a plate pf toast into his mouth before jumping into his mouth and ignore the butterflies in his stomach.
Oliver stormed into breakfast, with toothpaste on his tie and paper sticking out of his bag in a crumpled mess.
He looked out of it. Like he'd just runa marathon... or all the way down to breakfast. Or been kissed. Sort of.
The bell rang and Percy scampered away from the table, trying not to make eye contact with Oliver, as he watched forlornly as the food disappeared before he could grab so much as a pastry.
Percy scampered towards the doors and disappeared faster than the food had done, making his way on light feet to his first class of the day.
***
Percy skipped lunch and slipped into dinner with minutes to spare, grabbing a platter of shortbread and scampering back to the saftey of a place where Oliver wasn't.
But Oliver saw him, and followed him. Percy couldn't bring himself to him off his tail.
"Perce!", Oliver ran after him, and Percy, despite his better judgment, turned around to face him,"Are you okay?", he asked, breathless.
"What?"
"I mean- I've hardly seen you all day and- and, uh... y'know this morning? And last night? And... I didn't want to make you uncomfortable"
"What?"
"With... everything- I mean, with me!"
"...What?", Said Percy, ever the broken record.
"Just- I dunno... I'm really happy that we're boyfriends but-"
"Boyfriends?", Percy burst, grabbing Olivers arm and dragging him away from the stream of people that had begun leaving the great hall.
"What are you talking about, idiot! What are you even SAYING!"
A group of first years giggled as they tripped past. Percy sent them a glare that he hoped made them never open their mouths again.
"What... boy- boyfriends?", Oliver blinked tiredly,"Was that not what you were saying..?"
"When!"
"When... you... I just, you never realy said- Just- Augh! Percy!"
"What", Percy spat.
"HAVE I COMPLEATLY MISSREAD THE SITUATION OR ARE YOU LIKE A LITTLE BIT IN LIVE WITH ME BACK", he yelled.
Percy slapped himself in the face, and handed Oliver his playe of shortbread.
"Whats this for?"
Percy turned on his heel and stormed back to his room.
"PERCY!"
He slammed the door behind him and wished- not for the first time- that Oliver wasn't his roommate, that he was completely alone at the top of the griffindoor tower.
Percy wanted time to think, time- that he knew- Oliver would be less than willing to give.
He liked Oliver, alot. An amount, and a kind of liking that was reserved for something more than friends.
But Oliver was Oliver, and Percy lnew that far too often, Loving someone ment loosing them. And he didn't want to loose Oliver, not yet. Not ever.
But he also wanted to kiss Oliver. An idea that had been pushed to the back of his mind for a long time. One that he hadn't looked at. Tried not to think about. Because he knew he couldn't explain it.
He wanted to be able to love Oliver out loud, but not matter how much he yearned, he couldn't find his voice.
He waited for Oliver to burst through the doors.
Maybe Oliver had to teach him how to talk in the language of love. Maybe they'd teach each other.
But Oliver didn't come. He didn't show up. And Percys frayed nerves snapped.
***
Percy found Oliver on the quidditch pitch when it was hours past curfew, nearing midnight. He twirled in the air, on one of the school-supplied brooms, beating a quaffle away from the hoops with renounced violence. Percy decided it best to wait for him to come down.
***
Two hours and ten frozen fingers later, Percy was regretting his decision. Oliver, it seemed, didn't have an off button. But Percy knew that. And at-least-a-little-bit-loved him for it.
Merlin, he was useless.
A further hour of freezing his ass off, and nearly falling asleep, Oliver swooped down to the ground, still in his school uniform, neat shoes now muddy from the walk down to the pitch.
Percy followed him to the broom shed, behind the changing room, and coughed lightly. Oliver spun around so fast that he hit Percy in the face with his broom.
"Owwwww", Percy whined, cradling the now-raw patch of skin where he'd been hit.
"Shit- Fuck- Angh- Percy!", Oliver groaned, dropping the broom and launching himself forward to examine Percys face,"Let me see", he snapped, pinching Percys nose and pulling it down to his eye level.
"I'm fine", Percy groaned.
"Let me see!"
Percy took his hand away from his fac and winced as Oliver poked him,"Theres nothing wrong with your face"
"I know!", Percy snapped.
"...Right", Oliver stepped back, suddenly awkward,"Uh- Let me just...", he jestured to the broom, and turned to put it in the shack.
Percy followed him, and lent against the doorway,"Oliver..."
Oliver grunted and shoved the broom into its holster on the wall.
"I'm... sorry-"
"Don't- just... don't, okay? I get it- the best months of my life didn't actually happen because the guy I thought was in lobe with me actually just thinks I'm an idiot and-"
"But- Oliver-"
"Don't. Don't reject me, now. Don't puty me for being dumb. For wanting to hold your hand and sleep beside you and kiss you-"
"Fucks sake-"
"Shut up! Percy-"
"I WANT THAT TOO!"
Oliver froze,"W-what?"
"I want that too. I just... I didn't know you thought we were already... y'know"
"I don't, Percy. Say it"
"Oh. Will you be my boyfriend"
"Not that- I mean, yes, of course I will, but- Ugh! PERCY!"
"What?"
Oliver span around and stalked towards him.
"Did I say something wrong? Did you not want me to... y'know... ask-"
"Shut up"
Percy nodded.
"Kiss me you idiot."
Percy grinned and lent towards Olivers lips, thank Merlin they'd started talking about theor agreement.
This was by far the best bit.