Chapter Text
The bus was, by far, the worst possible way to get to school, especially on the first day back. Percy had always thought this. Everybody was so full of vigour and eagerness to see their friends again, excited to learn what their classes would be like, and looking forward to beginning the year. Percy didn’t particularly wish unhappiness on others, but he did find joy when reality finally hit others, and life was so drained out of everybody that the bus became an easier medium of travel with silence radiating throughout the entire bus.
It became slightly more bearable when he had his headphones shielding his ears from any noise, and blaring rather whimsical sound. And it was bearable when Penelope caught the bus, but now, she was driving to school every day to get her license. He was happy for her, but he wished he wasn’t stuck alone, and beside Ginny, who looked as though her guts were about to pour out of her.
Ginny wasn’t really all that shy. She never had been. But attending new places tended to bring out her anxiety, and she fell silent as she usually did when it became too loud to ignore. Percy knew this, because he felt it, too. He fell silent, or unnecessarily bitter about everything, and it came when he least expected it. Late night reading, staring out an open window, or going to school on certain days. It crept up on him before he even realised it.
It was as though he was drowning, losing his breath the further he sank. He could try clawing his way back up, and only when he closed his knuckle, he found he was reaching out for nothing. He was just an anchor, falling to the depths of the sea to never resurface.
But he always did. He blinked, and it was like it never really happened. He knew it did happen. That it did exist. But every fear that possessed him felt like a figment of his imagination. And maybe that was all it really was. A narrative he wrote in his own mind, almost solidifying it as the truth, because how it felt was real.
The bus came to a stop at the front of the school, and this sight was, unfortunately, not just a figment of his imagination. It was real, and he knew, then, that summer had come to an end. It had slipped away from him, and all the sleepless nights he spent with Penelope were over. All the days wondering where Isaac had disappeared to were over. All the hours he spent in his room, sobbing over some stupid breakup with Ethan, were now over.
Ethan was a boy he met in January, a little before he and Terence amicably broke up. He moved to their town at that time, and one day when Percy was working, he walked in and cursed him. It was beautiful, and slowly drifted into something calamitous in the matter of those six months. They met all of each other’s friends, regularly went on dates, and one night, Percy caught him, twisted in bedsheets with some poor girl who didn’t know who she got involved with.
She was the one who followed him out. She was the one who called his name, and she was the one who sat with him, holding tightly to his hand, and repeating that she really didn’t know. He told her it was okay about a hundred times, and he was sure he had never seen a person so distraught.
“Does he really have chlamydia?” She had asked him, eyes wide and bloodshot.
His own eyes were tired and draping, and his vision was blurred. “No, I lied.”
She smiled, and stretched her arm around him. He was sure everything would be so much worse if she hadn’t followed him out that night. Eventually, Charlie pulled up, and brought him back home, rescuing him from his misery. Although, he carried that misery with him everywhere he went, and he wanted to leave it in the summer. But that kind of shocking heartbreak didn’t leave you. It stayed with you even when you were over the person that did it. But it was always hard to forget when the pain still lived freshly in your memory.
He had his back pressed against the bus window, waiting for everyone to exit. Ginny glanced back at him, rolling her eyes at the distracted people hardly moving down the bus. He folded his arms with a nod of his head, feeling the same frustration. It was like this every single day. Everybody had just begun their conversations with their friends, and it was not yet at a point where it could dry up. Everybody was so recharged, but it wouldn’t last very long. It never did.
Penelope was grinning the second she laid eyes on Percy, a smile about a mile wide, and he felt as though the build up of anxiety faded in just moments of seeing her. It always did. Her shoulders straightened, and he had realised what a strange sight it was. To see her in her uniform with their white blouse and dress pants after seeing her in casual clothing for two months. She waved, and took off quickly to meet them half way. He allowed a smile to creep onto his own lips.
“Hi!” She said, stretching her arms out for Ginny first. Ginny willingly embraced her, her cheeks pink. If you were to ask Percy, he would tell you he was sure Ginny had a crush on Penelope, or she was just the older sister she had always wished for among her six brothers. She placed her hand on the back of Ginny’s head, rubbing gently. When Ginny stepped back, Penelope held her arms out even wider. “Hey, Perce!”
“Long time no see,” he whispered when he reached her. Penelope chuckled, softly tapping his arm, because they saw each other the day before. They pretty much saw each other every day of the break.
“How are you doing?” She asked, holding a concerned expression on her face. She was there to hold Percy during the days he could hardly get out of bed. She was there to insult Ethan whenever he needed an ego boost, and she was just… there, and she never left. It was only fair he could allow her to show that she was concerned.
“Not too bad,” he answered, because he wasn’t too bad. Not compared to the summer, anyway. He was so depressed that every night he would fall asleep unknowing of whether or not he would really wake up. Of course, every day he did wake up, and every day, he wished he hadn’t. It was funny how a single person could make another feel so much, because Percy felt as though his world around him, and there was nothing he could do to end it. “And how are you?”
“Oh, I am wonderful, darling,” she said, because that was how she answered him every time. It was a response programmed into her. She was allowed to be there for everybody else, but she would not let a single person see inside her own soul. But Percy was sure if he caught a glimpse, he would see beautifully twisted vines, blossoming into flowers just as mesmerising. She had her own struggles, but she didn’t have a single demon. She grinned, and tilted her head, gesturing for Ginny and Percy to follow. “And I’ve been dreading today. I spent half the night awake, thinking about coming back, and I was thinking why can’t the whole year be summer?”
“The question of the ages,” he laughed, stretching his arm around her to pull her closer. She dipped her head back, looking back at him, and sighed loudly. Many people would think Percy and Penelope loved school, because they were constantly labelled as the nerds. And they totally were—there was no denying that. But Percy worked hard to succeed, not necessarily because he loved school. “But then, we wouldn’t have winter, and that’s so much better than summer.”
“I love winter,” she agreed with a grin. He loved winter too. Mostly because there wasn’t a second he spent away from her even then. Her fathers always joined the rest of his family for Christmas, because his mother, and Micheal, her father, were best friends throughout high school and college. “Which does remind me, you’re going to have to send me a list of what you want for Christmas.”
“It’s not for another three and a half months, Pen,” he commented, looking back at her.
“That’s not actually as long as you think, considering it’s already September,” she replied. She dropped her head back to her arm, breathing out an overly dramatic, loud sigh again. “I don’t want to be back here. I hate it here, Perce.”
He laughed breathily, squeezing her shoulder gently. “I can, unfortunately, not do anything about that. As much as I wish I could.”
“But since we are back, we need to make sure we have a good year. You know, no distractions, laser focus, and being together.”
“Yes, no distractions,” he agreed. The week after his breakup, he had that thought too. No more distractions involving romance that would tear him down again. Laser focus, and working hard for success, and enjoying being with his friends.
Penelope nudged him softly as they continued to walk, and sped up when the bell echoed throughout the school, which signalled them to the hall like every other year. Every year, and every term, they had a welcome assembly as if they weren’t welcoming them back to Hell. High school, after a considerable amount of time, Percy decided was another form of Hell to be forced through.
They say if you’re a sinner, you go to Hell when you die, but there was no place more evil than Earth.
Ginny glanced at Percy as she walked through the doors of the quick filling hall. She bit on her bottom lip, her eyes bouncing around the room as though she had no clue where to go. But judging off the children that looked about ten years old, it was easy to pick out. He placed his hand gently on her back, gesturing toward the seats.
“You’ll be okay,” he told her with a gentle smile, remembering the time Charlie said the same thing to Percy, and when Percy said it to Ron. Fred and George were never concerned, and the second they walked through the gates for the first time, they decided they ruled the school. Even the older students enjoyed their presence. “Okay, just sit here, alright? You’ll be fine, and you can come to me whenever you like.”
“Okay Perce,” she said softly, glancing back at who will become her peers for the next seven years. She nodded her head, and gave him one last look before taking a seat. He waited a few moments. Just a few moments. Just to make sure she really was okay, and she was.
Penelope placed her hand on his shoulder, softly tugging him along to find their own seats. They didn’t have specific seats they must sit in. It was the year groups that had their designated area for assemblies. Of course, he had grown used to this routine. He was in year twelve, now, and was so close to escaping the shackles of high school. He was so close to achieving freedom.
“Where the hell is Isaac?” Penelope asked, searching around the hall.
Percy smiled. “Well, you know him. He’s almost always the last person in assemblies,” he said while making his way through the seats, and finding Marcus Flint. Marcus seemed as though he was physically incapable of actually being nice to anybody outside his small circle, and he had always despised Percy. Percy didn’t really care much. He lowered himself into the seat beside him, and opened his mouth to speak to Penelope.
“Move over one, will you?” Elton said, who was sitting on the other side of Marcus. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m saving it for Terence.”
“So, one dickhead gets replaced by another,” Penelope smirked, tilting her head to the side. Percy jumped up, hopping one seat along.
“Lucky us,” he drawled with Penelope following him soon after.
“Oh, shut up, Weasley,” Marcus muttered, glaring at him. Percy rolled his eyes, and rolled his head back to Penelope. It was comforting to him, really. Marcus’ general demeanor was cold and angry, so Percy knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong if he was being treated the same way as everybody else.
As he did so, Isaac came through the seats, leaning slightly to the left to dodge the chairs. He stepped in front of Percy and Penelope, and slumped himself between Penelope and Marcus. And if there was a single person that could beat Marcus, it would be Isaac, because he really didn’t give a fuck about anything anyone had to say. Oftentimes, he would pretend he couldn’t hear a person just to avoid answering them.
“Could you move?” Marcus asked, waving his head to usher Isaac away. Isaac lazily blinked, and looked over to him with a smirk. “The seat is taken.”
“I don’t see anybody here,” Isaac answered, straightening slightly, and stretching his arms out to gesture around him.
“Well… It’s called saving someone a seat,” he replied, shuffling in his seat. “Move.”
“Bite me,” he answered, leaning closer to Marcus. Marcus scoffed, and sat further down in his seat before glancing at Elton with pure annoyance. Isaac smiled, and twisted his body to face Percy and Penelope. “Anyway, how was your summer?”
“Never mind ours, how was yours?” Penelope asked. “We barely saw you. What could you possibly have been doing?”
“Someone,” Issac winked. Marcus leaned forward, coughing as though he suddenly choked on something. Percy widened his eyes, finding the sudden abruption of a coughing fit surprising. “Oh, and I heard Ethan unfortunately isn’t suffering. Apparently he was like… really sad about the breakup as if it wasn’t his fault, but apparently, he’s doing fine now.”
“Where’d you hear this?” Percy asked, softly shaking his head.
“I met one of his friends at a party, and it was mentioned.”
“Jesus Christ, Isaac, did you go through nine lives over the summer?” Penelope chuckled, confusion reflecting through her face, which was definitely justified. This was like every other summer Isaac had been their friend. He would disappear, and speak about his summer as though they already knew all this
Isaac laughed, leaning forward. “I went through about nine guys,” he winked, which was yet again unsurprising. Isaac had casually mentioned his abandonment issues as a joke. To him, it was better to have casual hookups than a relationship where he could truly be abandoned again. That was never anything he said aloud. Just something Percy had come to understand about him.
Marcus scoffed. “That’s not really a brag,” he interjected, his arms folded tightly around his chest.
Isaac shrugged. “Don’t be bitter, because you still haven’t managed to feel the touch of another person,” he mumbled, letting his back drop to his seat.
Marcus blinked hard, rolling his eyes. “Better that than ran through.”
“Bitter,” Isaac repeated, heightening the pitch of his voice to tease Marcus. Marcus softly pushed Isaac, which earned Marcus a nudge of his own. A year ago, they became close friends when Percy and Terence briefly dated. The two of them didn’t end badly, but the friendship between Marcus and Isaac grew into resentment when Percy and Terence broke up, and they hadn’t stopped arguing since.
Percy turned his head for a moment, and for a moment, his heart stopped as it always did when he saw Oliver Wood. Percy had many crushes throughout his childhood, but Oliver—he was his first real love. The kind of love that you could only ever give when you had so much to give, and in doing so, Percy thought a piece of him would always lay in the palm of Oliver’s hands, and he didn’t like it at all. He didn’t even like Oliver.
Arrogant, irritating, obnoxious Oliver Wood with a heart of gold. Pausing at the beginning of each year, arriving late to his first few classes, because he would stop to help the year seven students. Obsessed with football, and not in the normal, hobby way, but an all-consuming, strange obsession with the sport. And Oliver Wood, who accidentally kicked a ball into Percy’s head in year eight, and knocked all sense into Percy when he just laughed along with his friends.
That was when Percy’s own all-consuming, strange obsession with Oliver came to an end. But he couldn’t help it. A first love sticks with you like a bad smell, haunting you for the remainder of your days. For Percy, every relationship he had was what could have been, and what never was. Every time he fell for another person, he was painfully reminded of the first time he ever did. And he had come to resent Oliver for that reason. Because Percy had never been able to forget him. Not even for a second.
It was especially hard with a person who always spoke to you. Oliver could never truly pick up on the fact that somebody hated him. And even if he did, he still kept popping up out of the blue, and speaking to them as if there was no tension between them. Oliver treated Percy as friends that hardly liked each other, and there was nothing he detested more.
“Hey,” Oliver said, gently nudging Percy. Percy widened his eyes, staring forward. “Your little sister invited my family friend—uh, Colin—to sit beside her, and it was very sweet, actually.”
Percy glanced at him, and quickly looked away. “I don’t care,” he mumbled, mirroring the body language of Marcus from moments before.
“Jesus, I was just saying,” Oliver sighed, holding both of his hands up. “And that makes me wonder, will there ever be a day Percy Weasley doesn’t answer me with such animosity?”
“Oh, wow, animosity,” Percy chuckled quietly. “Big word for you. Is that the word of the day?”
Oliver rolled his eyes, letting out a scoff. “You are such a dick,” he told him, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Okay,” Percy murmured.
There were only brief moments like this one, because they always managed to sit on opposite sides of the classroom, they were friends with totally different people, and their lives were completely separate. Percy wasn’t displeased by this. He was actually rather grateful. He expected that Oliver disappearing from his life will only make him disappear from his mind eventually. No matter how slow that process was going to be.
However, Peter was sitting beside Oliver, arm around the empty seat beside him. He had been absolutely head over heels in love with Penelope for a year at that point. Percy started catching on earlier that year, but he suspected that it had been going on a lot longer than that. Unfortunately, Penelope had never noticed, because she was too busy looking in all the wrong directions. Penelope was a beautiful person, inside and out, and all the guys she had ever been with had treated her like shit.
There was a period of time where Penelope wasn’t looking anywhere, but it didn’t seem like she was really there. It seemed like she went off on her own planet, smiling at random times as she gazed into the distance. Percy had to ask her multiple times if she was high, and that always did the trick with bringing her back. After that period of time, she crashed. Something had changed, and she spent weeks in a deep depression. She said there was no reason behind it, so now, whenever she was happy, Percy couldn’t help but fear another crash was going to happen. But it never did.
Percy hoped that eventually Peter would have the courage to tell her, to confess all that he had felt for her, and Penelope would finally get everything she really deserved. But that was yet to happen.
“Oh, so you two didn’t even save me a seat,” Terrence called out, leaning over Peter’s body, his hands gripping onto the chairs on both sides of him. “Fuck you then!”
“It isn’t our fault,” Elton called back with a shrug, and of course, a smile. It was the end of year eleven that the two of them decided to give it a try, and from where Percy was sitting, everything was smooth sailing. And as much as he didn’t like Elton, he deserved some sort of win.
“Yeah, this twat wouldn't move,” Marcus added, pointing to Isaac, who leaned forward with his eyebrows furrowed for a moment. Moments later, his mouth curved into a smirk.
“Tell your mate I’ll move if he asks nicely,” Isaac told Terence with a wink. Every sign of amusement drained from Marcus’ face as he fell back again, admitting defeat, which was awfully strange for a guy who had unrelentingly bullied year sevens for years. Penelope huffs out a laugh, glancing between the three of them.
“Now I have to sit next to this airhead,” Terence heaved a sigh, hands on the seat in front of him as he lowered himself into his own seat.
“Don’t talk about him like that,” Oliver lectured.
Percy scoffed, leaning forward. He tilted his head to the side, pouting satirically. “Yeah, don’t talk to his boyfriend like that,” he said. Terence grinned, winking at Percy when they heard an annoyed sigh from Oliver.
Gemma Farley was about the last one in their year to sit, followed by Eleanor and Ivy.
Percy was sure that Gemma and Penelope were friends at some point, because during that same period of heightened happiness, he would always see them speaking. But Penelope denied it. She said that they weren’t friends. They just occasionally spoke.
Gemma was quiet, and often kept to herself. Percy knew that she was close with Marcus. Their families knew each other, and oftentimes, he had found them always sitting beside each other since primary school. When Marcus became friends with Terence and Elton, she was always there too. They had always been a package deal, much like Penelope and Percy. They would follow each other throughout every season of life. The good and the bad.
Eleanor was similar, but she didn’t have many friends, except Ivy. Of course, Ivy, who was known to have no darkness, was always nearby. But they had been neighbours for years. Eleanor wanted to be alone. Percy saw it when she first came to the school. When the popular kids would walk up to her to make fun of her, she didn’t look hurt. She looked annoyed to have their presence around her. She evidently enjoyed her solitude. She possibly valued it. Percy wouldn’t know, because he had only ever had two conversations with her, and only when it was an obligation to do so.
He was sure he wouldn’t mind her. He thought he would even like her, and with the little interaction he had with her, he formed a concrete opinion that he did.
And Ivy, with an unmatched kindness and heart, was one of the greatest people Percy had ever met. She was close to Penelope. Always was, and while they’re usually on opposite sides of the school, their friendship has persevered through any distance. She occasionally sat with them, and formed a close friendship with all three of them. But then again, she was friends with everybody.
“Ah, finally someone decent!” Terence exclaimed with satisfaction, placing his hand on Gemma’s shoulder. Gemma smirked knowingly, leaning forward on her seat, and raising her eyebrows directly at Marcus. Marcus rolled his eyes, balling his hand into a fist, and leaving his middle finger up at her. She laughed, allowing her back to fall back to the seat again.
The assembly commenced soon after, involving the school pledge, a prayer, and every introduction possible. Luckily, the first assembly was solely up to the teachers, and not the prefects. Percy was a prefect, and was beyond grateful that he didn’t have to speak at the first assembly of the year on the first day of year twelve. It was easy to relax, and tune out.
It was hard to fully tune out with the boy he could not forget right beside him, and he had no spatial awareness in the slightest. He didn’t realise it, but he allowed his shoulder to rest however he liked that, and apparently that was against both Peter and Percy’s arms. At that moment, Percy let his eyes flutter shut, rubbing his fingers against his temples, and wishing that Oliver would get banished to his own area of the hall where he couldn’t bother Percy.
~•~
After the assembly, they were sent to their form groups for the remainder of the hour, which their year often called home room. This was how many dynamics and relationships were born, and over the years, the class reduced in numbers when people decided to leave school, or transfer schools. Thankfully, Percy was with Penelope, and Isaac, and they always ensured Percy’s mornings weren’t bland. Not thankfully, he was stuck with Oliver.
Penelope and Percy always sat beside each other, and Isaac always chose to sit next to Gemma, which was quite funny to Percy, considering Isaac and Marcus had been nonstop bickering for close to a year at that point. Isaac pushed the front legs of his chair up, leaning the back of it against Marcus’ desk, and Percy was sure it was just to annoy him. He knew that Isaac succeeded, because Marcus kept muttering words under his breath at Isaac, and Isaac remained smirking as though he had won a game nobody even knew he was playing.
Soon after, the bell for their first break sounded through the classroom, and they were let out. They made their way through the school, finding many confused and clueless year sevens attempting to navigate themselves through the school without knowing anything. Percy remembered that he always got so confused when he first arrived. The school looked like a maze to fresh eyes, which was why he was glad he was so far into his school years. He knew everything at that point.
Penelope and Percy find their table in the courtyard. They picked the spot one day in year ten, and have returned there every day since then. It became much easier for Isaac to find them after he went on his weird little side quests around the school. Sometimes Isaac loved being alone, and Percy understood. Isaac was outgoing, and could strike up a conversation with anybody within his reach, but sometimes, he looked so exhausted that he could collapse. So when he wasn’t around, Penelope and Percy didn’t really question it.
“We have Snape again,” Penelope said, gripping each side of her paper timetable in her hand. She had always refused to look at her timetable online. She said that ruined the entire excitement, so she never looked at it before school began. She always waited for the physical copy. “For Chem.”
“He’s not that bad, honestly,” Percy shrugged, looking back up at her after shoving the paper into his own bag. He would really only be using his phone, so he didn’t need it. “He and McGonagall are my favourites.”
“Oh, me too,” Penelope agreed with a grin. “He always keeps Higgs, Ivory, and Flint in line.”
“Yeah, and Wood,” Percy added lazily, reaching into his bag for his lunch. He placed it on the table, and looked back up at Penelope.
“Yeah,” she murmured, nodding her head slowly. She was still convinced that any positive emotion existed toward Oliver, but it didn’t. Nothing, except old feelings that he was reminded of on occasions. But it was nothing more than that. Everybody had a soft spot for their first love.
“Those damn lines, I’m telling you now,” Isaac sighed loudly, throwing his bag onto the table, and placing his lunch in front of him. He shook his head, biting on his lip, and squinting his eyes. “I might just whack one of those year sevens over the head, and scare them into not going to the canteen line.”
“Christ, Isaac.”
“Well imagine it, the shorter lines, less foot traffic, and I wouldn’t have to shove that little shits out of my way,” he grinned, unwrapping the burger he had purchased. Penelope turned her head to Percy with tugging at one corner of her lip. Isaac looked back up, letting his hands fall beside him after taking a bite. “Anyway, Flint has, since, been looking at me like he wants to murder me.”
“He looks at everyone like he wants to murder them,” Percy laughed, running his hands through his hair as he pulled out his fork.
“Or he’s giving you fuck me eyes, darling,” Penelope offered with unsettling optimism.
“Nah, he’s just… a dick,” Isaac murmured, slowly twisting his head to Marcus and his group that sat on the table beside theirs. After Terence and Percy dated, they had grown used to sitting in that area, so they always chose to sit at that table. They had even bullied year sevens and eights into leaving it open for them every break, and clearly, it had been effective.
Percy’s eyes followed Isaac’s over to Marcus, who had Gemma’s head laying on his shoulder while she sprawled herself across the seat with a book resting on her stomach. Marcus’ eyes seemed to be laser focused on the table, avoiding lifting them anywhere.
“I fear that I may be on Penelope’s side here,” Percy confessed with a shrug of one shoulder.
“Weasley, you traitor,” Issac gasped, pushing back his shoulders.
“Well, he is definitely softer on you than he is on anybody else. If it was me, or Penelope, that wasn’t moving, he would keep going until we did.”
Isaac waved him off, clicking his tongue, and shaking his head as though this couldn’t be a possibility in the slightest. “Yeah, no, not gonna happen. Absolutely not. Let’s move on. Classes, classes, what did we pick?”
“Well, I chose Music obviously,” Penelope announced. “English, Modern History, and Chemistry.”
“Oh, yes, me too,” Isaac told them. “Except I chose Math, not Modern History.”
“I chose all the same, but not Music, I chose Law.”
“I’ve heard that so many people have struggled through that,” Isaac commented.
“And how many of them include the guys you’ve hooked up with?” Percy asked, tilting his head to the side teasingly.
Isaac smiled back, “Well, all of them. But my point still stands. It will test your will to live, Perce, and I want you to live.”
Percy laughed. “I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, Perce has never failed a class,” Penelope said, holding her hands up as though she was presenting Percy to an audience. “My boy is a genius.”
“Yes, he is,” Isaac declared, jumping from his seat to ruffle his hand through Percy’s hair. Percy squinted his eyes, crinkling his nose as Isaac dropped back to his seat. “I apologise for doubting you, pretty boy.”
“You’re forgiven,” Percy said, softly forming a grip around Isaac’s arm to keep it away. Isaac grinned, looking to the side before it slowly faded, and it let his arm fall beside him again. He cleared his throat, and sighed loudly, continuing to speak about his various hookups. But Percy couldn’t help but wonder if something was bothering him. If Isaac was keeping something a secret, and he never kept secrets.
~•~
Percy had his back pressed against the brick wall of the classroom, staying beside Penelope and Isaac. In one singular day, all the work to rejuvenate the life inside him had been ripped away, leaving him silent with no more words to say. He flicked his wrist, watching as the seconds passed. But time always moves so much slower when you would prefer it to pass. That was something Percy had learned.
It was better, because not a single person dared to fuck around in Snape’s class, except Terence. But he almost had a free pass, because even Snape liked him. There was something about him that everybody liked. Even the one teacher who was impossible to win over, he had managed to make him smile on more than one occasion. But Percy always thought that it took a lot of sadness to make a person so willing to make everybody else happy. Terence loved making people laugh. Maybe because he lacked that everywhere else.
When the door swung open, the entire class fell silent, waiting with their laptops, books and pencils underneath their arms, or folded between their arms and chest.
“Hi Sir!” Terence said, breaking the silence that was shared throughout the whole class.
Snape’s eyes dropped to him for a moment before sighing, “When you get inside, please stand to the right, so it will be easier for me to get through the process of showing you your assigned seats.”
“Assigned seats?” Terence cringed, folding his arms, and glancing at Marcus and Elton. “We literally never have assigned seats.”
“Well, I suppose that is literally going to change, Mr Higgs,” Snape drawled, gesturing toward their door to usher them all inside. Percy heard the annoyed grunts and whispers from across the class, but he didn’t say a word. He would still do well no matter who he was seated next to, and if it came to partner work, he could just go with Penelope. “Now, I’ll start from the front. We have Mr Higgs, and Mr Jones.”
Terence’s face screwed up, looking between Snape and Peter. “This has to be a joke,” he said bluntly, causing Percy to drop his head and bite on his lip to suppress his smile. Peter’s mouth fell slightly open, furrowing his eyebrows as though he was slightly offended.
“Not a joke,” Snape replied, pointing at the table. Terence heaved a frustrated sigh, rolling his eyes when he found Peter’s face. Peter followed closely behind him, sitting beside each other. “Miss Williams and Miss Violet—Miss Farley and Miss Clearwater.”
Percy’s heart sank a little when he heard Penelope’s name already called out, and he doubted Snape would ever put Isaac next to a person that he actually liked. Otherwise, he just wouldn’t shut up for the majority of the lesson. He was one of those people whose mouths move quicker than their thoughts, and it took slightly longer for it to catch up to the speed of the words pouring out of him.
He leaned against the desktop, waiting for his name to be called out among the others. Elton was seated next to Archie Crimson. A boy Percy knew of, but never actually spoke to. He kept to his own little group, and never interacted with Percy’s circle, which often involved Penelope, Isaac, Marcus, Elton, Gemma, and Terence.
Percy lifted his eyes to find three people surrounding him. It was between Marcus, Oliver, and Isaac, and God, he was praying for Isaac. Otherwise, he would be in for an awfully long year.
“Mr Weasley and Mr Wood,” Snape said, pointing to the two tables at the back. Every past hope Percy once had faded as he found Oliver’s grinning face. Oliver pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, and headed promptly to his seat. Percy rolled his eyes and dropped his head back, unfortunately having no choice but to follow behind him. “And you two, Mr Winston and Mr Flint.”
You really would think Snape was sadistic in some way. Somehow, he managed to partner many people with the person they would hate to be with the most. Penelope got off easy, as well as Gemma, Ivy, and Eleanor. But Terence, Peter, Oliver, Isaac, and Marcus, as well as Percy, were each stuck with the person they would hate the most.
Percy settled in his seat, tucking all of his belongings at the corner of his desk neatly. He glanced at Oliver’s, and noticed a missing pencil case, and Percy could predict his entire year at that point. Every Chemistry class would have Oliver asking for a pencil, or a pen, or a ruler, or a highlighter, because he couldn’t be bothered to bring his own inside. And not to mention it didn’t help Percy’s long road of moving on, and getting over his old, stupid crush on Oliver, because he was forced to sit beside him for the entire year.
“What are you looking at?” Oliver asked with a smirk. Stupid smirk that somehow was always resting behind his lips. Percy rolled his eyes, and looked away from him.
“Okay, now that we have that sorted, I would like to tell you more about this seating arrangement. I didn’t pick out these seats specifically. They were random names. For this year, your desk mate will be your partner in all your work. You will learn to work with people you don’t generally know, or speak to,” Snape explained, resulting in Terence’s arm shooting up. “No, Mr Higgs, you cannot switch if your partner agrees to. If anyone else asks, I will be giving you an extra credit project.”
Terence slowly lowered his arm while Percy’s hand flew up.
“In your case, Mr Weasley, I will take every extra credit assignment that I have planned for you,” Snape stated.
“But…” Percy began, soon trailing off, because he knew there was no changing his mind, and speaking back to teachers wasn’t really his strong suit.
“But this sucks!” Terence called out, to which Peter looked half-offended, but also like it didn’t bother him that much. Terence would likely complain about anybody sitting beside him if it wasn’t Elton, Marcus, or Gemma.
“No. No. You can whine all you like, but at the end of the day, different stages of your life exist to prepare you for the next. Life doesn’t treat everybody fairly. That is a fact. So, I have put you with people that you don’t usually work with. Not as a punishment, but preparation for a new world you will face when you leave here. So, you will have a small assignment due on Monday that you will work on in your pairs.”
Percy sank in his seat, resting his head against his hand that was perched on the table. Snape began explaining the assignment, and what was required of them. Percy, of course, listened, but he couldn’t help it when his mind began to wander away from him. He couldn’t help that he promised himself that this year would be a good one, and there had already been so many signs it would be going the other way.
He had already been cheated on that year. And now, he was stuck beside Oliver. A name that every person who really knew Percy knew, too.
“I cannot believe he is assigning a project on the first day,” Oliver whispered, leaning forward Percy. He shook his head, his eyes still glued to the front. “I have football. I need to practice. You know… important things.”
Percy’s eyebrows scrunched up as he looked over to him, and scoffed when he saw the seriousness on his face. “I seriously doubt kicking a ball around a field is… um… important.”
“Well, I see your view hasn’t changed since eight years old,” Oliver commented, his nose crinkling. He blew out a breath of air as he sank back into his seat. “And for your information, it’s more than just kicking a ball.”
“What is it, then?” Percy asked, knowing he was going to say something stupid and unbelievable.
“A lifeline,” Oliver stated. Percy rolled his eyes, and he couldn’t help as he began chuckling, and shaking his head. “Excuse me, just because you don’t understand doesn’t mean you get to laugh at me.”
“I really don’t care, Wood,” Percy informed him, pressing the side of his hand against the top of the table as he lifted his shoulders. “When you call football a lifeline in that serious tone and everything, it is laughable.”
“And that is extremely rude,” Oliver continued. Percy blinked, slowly turning his head. “You have your studying and whatever, and I have a sport. Marcus has drawing. Isaac has that stupid guitar of his. Everybody has their own thing. So who is to say which one is more… real?”
“Are you seriously trying to tell me not to call football stupid, while simultaneously calling Isaac’s guitar stupid?” Percy asked with his eyebrows screwing up in frustration and confusion, and so many emotions that Percy was yet to understand. Oliver shrugged. “You’re a fucking idiot.”
“Yeah, a fucking idiot that you’re stuck with.” Oliver leaned toward him, poking his hand into his chest with pride. Idiot. Percy pursed his lip, grabbing Oliver’s arm as he yanked it away from him. “Well, you’re going to have to try to like me, because we do have to work together.”
“Could you please not torture me for just… five minutes?” Percy said quietly, lifting one leg over the other. If he was going to be stuck with Oliver, he could at least be comfortable.
“How am I torturing you? I’m just speaking to you.”
“Exactly my point,” Percy nodded, placing his hand on Oliver’s shoulder with a gentle squeeze. Oliver glanced at his hand, and promptly turned his gaze back to Percy’s eyes. Percy pulled his hand back, feeling a sensation build up in his stomach. He ripped his eyes away from him, and slumped back in his seat.
Old habits die hard. And his old feelings for Oliver continued to resurface, no matter how hard and deep he attempted to bury them. But habits could die if you tried hard enough, and Percy would try.