A/N: This is written for mew, (mew-tsubaki) because she's epic. I hope you'll like this! Many thanks to Jo (jojor99) for betareading.

A Chance Encounter

He hadn't seen him for years, but he still recognized him immediately. Those eyes were as piercing as ever. He had always been edgy when meeting him at the Quidditch pitch. It felt as though the Slytherin Chaser could see right into his soul.

Back then he had felt ashamed of how much inferior Pucey made him feel, but now he felt nothing but nervousness. Why: he didn't really know, but there was something in that gaze.

And – oh, crap! He was heading over to him. Oliver looked frantically around to find somewhere to hide.

Of course he knew there wasn't going to be such a place, but nevertheless he hunched a bit as the man with the sand-coloured hair slowly approached. He hadn't a clue of why he was this nervous, but it felt as though he was back in school and receiving those smirks from Pucey when they were flying. Though, Pucey didn't even have a hint of a smirk on his face today, Oliver realized. Instead he wore an apprehensive, almost friendly, look.

"A coke, please," Pucey said to the barman as he leaned against the bar next to Oliver.

"Hi," Oliver said after a while since the taller man didn't say anything. He just sipped at his drink.

He turned slowly and smiled. "Congratulations on your victory."

"You saw the game?" Oliver asked. He was stunned to hear this, but maybe it was good, because if he had known Pucey had been in the stands he probably wouldn't have been able to focus.

"I did."

Suddenly one of Oliver's teammates, who were all gathered to celebrate, came over and slung an arm around Oliver's shoulder.

"He was brilliant, wasn't he?" the beater slurred.

"Jason…" Oliver began.

"You were!" Jason said wide-eyed, looking slightly hurt. "Wasn't he?" he asked Pucey, putting his hands on his hips.

"He was," Adrian agreed, although he wasn't looking at Jason but straight into Oliver's eyes, causing a jolt in his stomach. Then his expression changed into a smirk as Jason put a sloppy kiss on Oliver's cheek.

"Told you so!" Oliver released himself from Jason's hug and felt his cheeks burn. Jason smiled widely again and skipped – wobbly, but still skipped – away after a "Nice meeting you, pal!" to Pucey. Oliver guessed he didn't recognize him from school, since Jason always had had a bit of an issue with Slytherins. Or maybe he was just too sloshed to remember to uphold that grudge.

Pucey looked at Oliver with a raised eyebrow. "You two seem to be close?"

"No!" Oliver answered quickly. Had Pucey really insinuated that he and Jason… And why on earth didn't Oliver want Pucey to think that was the case…? Another thought hit him; why did he answer Pucey so fast? "Well, ehm…" he continued. "We are friends, of course." He felt a blush spread over his face. Pucey slowly put his empty glass down and tilted his head slightly. "But, ehm, just friends."

Pucey's light brown eyes stared into his, and again Oliver wanted to shrink through the ground to disappear from that intense gaze. "I see," Pucey said, with a hint of a smug smile on his lips.

Then he was quiet, and Oliver thought desperately for something to say. "Ehm – so, what have you been up to since Hogwarts? You still play?"

Pucey gave him a half crooked smile. "No, I only watch."

"Oh. So was there a special reason you watched this game?"

Pucey gave him an almost daring look. "Maybe. Can I get you another drink?" he asked, pointing at Oliver's now empty glass. Oliver had been drinking rather quickly since Pucey had arrived – to have something to do.

"No, there's no need, thank…" Oliver began rapidly.

Pucey had already turned to the barman. "Two of what he had, please." The barman handed the glasses over rather fast, even though the bar was crowded with people shouting orders to him all the time.

Pucey took them and gave one to Oliver before raising his own. "To your victory."

Oliver nodded and realized he was blushing again, dammit; he hadn't blushed this much for years, so he quickly took a sip of the drink after answering with a quiet "Cheers."

Pucey put his glass down, twirling it around and following the swirling liquid with his deep, golden brown eyes. Argh, Oliver mentally groaned. What was he doing? Was he really that drunk, or was it something else? He didn't really want to answer that question, so he tried to keep the conversation going. "Ehm… Pucey, how's…"

"Call me Adrian," he interrupted with a wide smile.

"Oh, ehm…sure." Oliver stumbled over his words. That smile, wow, he had no idea Slytherins were capable of such sincerity. Not to mention, being capable of such cuteness. Oh no, did he just think that? Puc- sorry, Adrian, cute?

But the way the blonde man's eyes sparkled when he smiled, there really was no other word to describe him. It was odd, though, how quickly the man had changed. When Oliver first saw him he had mostly resembled a carnivore, with that glint in his eyes. Well, he had been rather hot back then, as well, but now he looked like a puppy; so sweet that Oliver wanted to hug him.

Oliver took a deep breath and told himself to focus. It now seemed that he couldn't stop his thoughts, they just kept going in that direction all the time. But he certainly had to keep them at bay, and not let them shine through. Imagine the awkwardness if Adrian found out that Oliver longed to cuddle him.

"Were you going to ask me something?" Adrian said, referring to his interruption earlier, before Oliver had discovered that he had lost his mind.

"Oh, yeah, well...it was nothing," Oliver responded.

Adrian raised his eyebrows. "Come on, it had to be something," he said and bent his head a bit so he looked up at Oliver from beneath his eyelashes.

Oliver felt his cheeks burn again and hurried to say, "I was just going to ask how your life is?"

"Fine, thank you," Adrian answered with a little grin, as though he knew what Oliver was thinking about. And almost, almost, as though he had similar thoughts spinning around in his head….

But surely he didn't. Oliver dismissed this oh-so-tempting notion and managed to get out a "Good," before taking another sip of his drink. Merlin, if he kept drinking at this pace he would be completely tipsy in no matter of time. But he didn't know what else to do.

"And yours?" Adrian asked, tilting his head and once more stare intently into Oliver's eyes. "Any partner?" He put so much emphasize on the last word Oliver almost choked on his drink.

"-ehm, no," was his answer when he had wiped his mouth. He didn't want to go into details about how he hadn't dated anyone since Hogwarts, so he quickly steered the attention over to Adrian. "And you?"

Adrian laughed and Oliver realized he had to tear his gaze away from the other man to stop himself from drooling.

"Nah, you know, I'm not really searching for a girlfriend," Adrian explained blushing. Really? Was "Pucey", Oliver's eternal opponent, Slytherin to the bone, in fact blushing? Oliver had thought it was impossible for the former Chaser's cheeks to go red, not that he complained, though.

Then he remembered that he was supposed to answer. He really had to be drunk since he couldn't concentrate at all anymore. "I see," he answered, fingering at the hem of his sweater.

They sat in silence for a while, Oliver's glance jumping back to Adrian all the time; the soft golden stubble on his cheeks, the way his chest heaved underneath his shirt, how his eyes glimmered, how the hair on his tanned arms seemed to shine and give him the appearance of having an aura around him, like an angel, how his lips closed around the edge of the glass when he drank…

All right then, maybe his gaze didn't jump between Adrian and the rest of the bar, maybe it was stuck on Adrian and unable to move.

Then Adrian slowly turned his head to face Oliver, a new sort of sparkle in his eyes - something that gave Oliver the feeling Adrian's countenance was a copy of his own and Oliver simply let go.

When their lips met, Oliver's insides burned. He saw stars behind his closed eyelids and it didn't matter that they had just met for the first time in years – this was heaven and Oliver didn't care about anything else. There was only Adrian and Adrian's skin under his hands and their knees knocking into each other, and Adrian's soft lips against his. No, only Adrian mattered now.

:::::

Oliver felt himself regaining consciousness, but refused to open his eyes. It was so comfortable lying there with the smooth skin under his hand and the arm closely wrapped around his shoulders. He snuggled in closer and took a deep breath, the scent more delicious than anything he had ever felt…

Wait a second now. Why had he an arm wrapped around him? Why were his hands resting on someone's naked chest?

Oliver opened his eyes and closed them quickly again. That's right, Adrian. How was it possible that he had forg- oh no! He hadn't forgotten anything. The night's events came back to him in a rush, causing him to smile.

Suddenly the arm that had hugged him so tightly and made him feel protected, almost loved, disappeared. He could sense the bed rise a bit, and he opened his eyes again.

Adrian had hopped off the bed, and had stood facing away from him as he buttoned his jeans.

"Good morning," Oliver said unsurely, and had to cough a bit since his voice was all harsh.

"'Morning," Adrian answered, still not facing Oliver as he rummaged through the piles of clothes on the floor. Oliver felt ashamed of his messy apartment all of a sudden. He hadn't cleaned for days.

But before he had time to excuse himself, something else hit him. "What are you doing? Are you – are you leaving?"

"Yeah," Adrian responded shortly, without looking up from the buttons on his shirt which he was fingering. Oliver felt as though something had created a hole inside him, where every happy emotion he had had was drawn in and eaten up. He pulled the sheets up around him, since he suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

"Because…" Adrian began and pulled a hand through his hair. "Because…oh, I don't even know," he continued exasperatedly and sat down on the bed again. Oliver crawled up a bit so he leaned against the wall, not knowing what to say. "Because I'm sorry, Oliver," Adrian said in a small voice. "I didn't want it to be like this. This was not what I had planned."

Finally he turned around and looked at Oliver, his golden eyes simmering with pain. "What do you mean?" Oliver asked. He wanted to comfort the other man, but he didn't know how.

"I…well," Adrian stumbled over his own words. "Oh, hell with it," he said, and then everything just flew out. "I didn't want to have just one night with you, Oliver. It might sound odd, but you mean a lot more to me than a one-night-shag. So yesterday – or today, really – I hadn't planned on following you home. I didn't want you to think that I'm some sort of playboy." Adrian looked down at his hands when he had finished talking, breathing heavily and his cheeks flushed after his little outburst.

Oliver blinked. Had Adrian just implied that he liked – as in liked – him? No way, there wasn't a chance in the world Oliver would be so lucky. "I don't think you're a playboy," Oliver said at last, struggling with what else to say.

Adrian gave him a half crooked smile. "But I still took advantage of your, ehm, drunk condition."

"I wasn't that drunk," Oliver protested with a huff. "Besides, it could just as well have been me taking advantage of your condition."

"No, it couldn't. You're way too sweet to do that," Adrian said with a smirk. He got up from the bed and the look on his face changed to being grim and determined. "Anyways, forgive me for that. And I'll see you around."

He began to walk from the room, and Oliver was paralyzed. But… but? When the door to his apartment slammed shut he quickly rose, untangled himself from the sheets, and jumped into a pair of boxers – with a speed that made him dizzy and cause black spots to appear in front of his eyes. He might have had a hangover as well, but either way it didn't matter right now. He couldn't stand the thought of letting Adrian go, not so soon.

"Adrian!" he shouted as he ran down the stairs in the building. He didn't get an answer, but when he got outside (and received some odd looks thanks to his undressed state) and shouted the same again, he could see a blonde man further down the street halt and turn around.

Oliver sped up and caught up with him. Adrian's eyes widened. "Aren't you cold?" he blurted out when Oliver was by his side.

"No!" Oliver responded and then realized he was covered in goose bumps. "Well, yes I am, but…you can't just leave like that!" he finished and stared straight into Adrian's eyes.

"Why?" Adrian asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Because, because…" Oliver pulled his hands through his hair as he tried to remember his ohsoperfect explanation to this. "Because I didn't have time to answer, that's why!"

"Answer what?" Now all hints of superiority and sternness were wiped away from Adrian's face and he looked thoroughly confused.

Oliver took a step closer and he knew exactly what to say. "You said 'forgive me' and then you left. So I didn't have time to forgive you!"

"But what difference does it make? I mean, sure, forgive me, fine, thanks, but that's all!" Adrian said and gave him a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"That's not all," Oliver said and threw his hands out in exasperation, almost hitting a woman who was passing by. He hadn't really noticed how crowded the pavement was until now, and how many people were staring at them. But it didn't matter; the only thing that was important was to get Adrian to understand. "I was also going to say that you didn't make a bad impression on me and I also hope…" He hesitated for a few seconds, but then continued hastily,"…that this will be more than a one-night-stand."

Adrian's face suddenly turned into stone. There wasn't an emotion displayed. "Really?"

"Yes," Oliver said and nodded vigorously. Had he gone this far, and told Adrian this much; it meant all the walls were down. There simply wasn't more to lose.

They stood like that for a while, unmoving and staring at each other. Then, slowly something began to light up in Adrian's eyes. Finally the grin on his face was so bright and so shining, it almost dazzled Oliver. He reacted instinctively, walked closer, and wrapped his arms around the other man, so fast it could have happened in a blink of an eye.

As Adrian's lips crashed down on his, Oliver smiled too before answering the kiss hungrily. And Adrian's hands on his naked back were so warm, he didn't felt cold at all anymore, and he had an inkling he would never have to freeze again.