Entry for the Quidditch Fanfiction League Competition, Season 6, Round 10 – Wigtown Wanderers vs Caerphilly Catapults

Position: Captain

Prompt: Write about a character having an affair.

Word Count: 1,028

Betas: brokenbottleaurora, DinoDina, silently-at-night

Right And Wrong

Percy Weasley knew about right and wrong.

All his life, he'd joked to himself that he knew all about right, and his brothers, especially Fred and George, were the experts for the wrong, so to speak.

However, his past of rarely ever putting a foot wrong didn't change anything about the fact that he was just doing something morally wrong, and guilt about how he didn't feel guilty for doing this was bubbling in his stomach. And in this moment, he felt like he understood Fred and George a bit more — this just felt too good.

In this very moment, he felt more content than he'd ever been in his whole life; body heat engulfed him like a comforting, soft blanket, two strong arms were wrapped around him tenderly, and together they were gazing out of the window where the morning sun was rising slowly, dipping the skyline of London into a majestic golden light. Morning dew rolled down the window, a reminder of the approaching winter, and Percy cuddled a bit more into the body behind him at the thought of the cold morning air on the other side of the glass.

Listening to the even breathing and feeling the soft rise and fall of the chest touching his back, he wondered how something that was seen as wrong could feel so right to him right now.

Yes, he, Percy Weasley, was wholeheartedly enjoying an action that society deemed to be morally wrong.

Because the person sharing his bed with him that morning wasn't his wife.

"Morning," the person behind him mumbled, and the raspy voice and the butterfly kisses pecked onto his shoulder sent a pleasant shiver down Percy's spine.

"Good morning."

Percy craned his head when he felt the mattress move and their noses bumped together clumsily before their lips met, and they chuckled against each other's lips. He found it incredible how a chance encounter had changed his life, bringing new wind and making him feel younger and more free than ever before.

It had been a few years since Oliver and he had seen each other, his school friend always busy travelling around the world as a Quidditch professional, so the joy had been immense on both sides when they'd run into each other at the Leaky Cauldron a few days ago. Over a few Firewhiskeys, they'd exchanged stories about what had happened in the last years — neither of them had addressed the fact that Oliver's travels and engagements with non-British Quidditch teams had increased since Percy had married Audrey — and from that evening on, they'd continued to meet up as often as they could.

As Oliver ran his fingers through Percy's unruly red hair, he remembered with how much force all the feelings they'd suppressed since their time at Hogwarts had come back one evening, washing them away. The currents of life had pulled them apart after graduation, with Percy being drawn into the Ministry and its views, but their ways were united again at the other side of the stone in the riverbed, their separation only a natural diversion.

But while their reunion was a good thing, two currents meeting always meant turbulences were bound to be created as well. Even though Percy felt happier than ever before in his life, kissing and cuddling lazily with Oliver, the awareness of the storm their newfound happiness could cause was lingering in the back of his mind.

Because after all, he was still married, the wedding band on the fingers entwining with Oliver's as their kisses continued, passion slowly building inside them, being the very physical proof of that.

It was the topic Percy and Oliver had avoided at all costs, and Percy still didn't like to address it, but Oliver had started to ask him in one or the other quiet moment what he intended to do now. Percy was thankful when Oliver wasn't interested in this tiring and frustrating discussion, like right now. These nights spent with Oliver at his apartment or a room at the Leaky Cauldron were just too precious to waste in his eyes; he wanted to savour every moment, because it had been too long of a wait to finally get there, and neither of them knew how long this would last.

Also, Percy had no idea how to get through this situation.

The man who'd always been so good at problem-solving was utterly lost in a dilemma, seeing no way out. He loved Audrey, he wouldn't have married her if he didn't, but he also loved Oliver. It was a love that was older and stronger than the one he had for Audrey; it had endured years of suppression, followed by separation, and now it didn't plan to give up on the freedom it had gained.

Percy knew that the right thing would be to tell Audrey the truth, to end this affair with Oliver and see if Audrey would kick him out. He couldn't keep this betrayal up, the lies about where he was going and why he was staying away the whole night, it was wrong…

But it was just too easy to push this complicated problem away from him when Oliver wasn't in the mood to deal with it either, and that was the case today obviously. Usually, the quiet mornings, when they'd just woken up, the daze of sleep and joy leaving them, were the time when they ended up talking about the elephant in the room, because they realised that waking up together wasn't a thing they would ever be able to do every day if they continued like this.

However, right now Oliver deepened the kiss they shared and rolled on top of Percy, both of them chuckling lightly at the playfulness, and it wiped the worries from Percy's mind. Their hands started exploring, savouring every second, every kiss, every touch, and words of love were whispered into the peaceful quiet of the morning.

Percy knew that it was wrong, but he allowed himself to delve into the heat of the moment and forget about how far he'd strayed from truthfulness once again.