This fic was written for Taragh McCarthy's challenge 'What's in a name?'
It's another Marcus/Oliver story (cos I love them so much ^_^)
I was given the nicknames Brutus and Kitten to work with (:
I'm not extremely happy with the story, but I am pretty happy with it :P
anyway, enjoy ^_^
Finding out about Marcus and Oliver's relationship wasn't high on the list of Percy's priorities when he burst into the Dormitory that evening, neither had it been his intention to publicly humiliate the pair as he ran down the dorm stairs into the common room screaming "Ahhhh, troll! Troll shagging Oliver!" It just sort of happened that way.
It hadn't taken the occupants of the Gryffindor common room very long to decode Percy's message, and while most wanted to see for themselves, some settled with running out of the common room and spreading the message to every crevice of Hogwarts.
Soon neither Marcus nor Oliver could go anywhere in the castle without hearing the scandalised gossiping of portraits, that really had no right to judge, or the disapproving looks from the Professors, with the exception of Professor Snape who took to sneering every time either boy was in the vicinity (although, Oliver couldn't really remember a time when Snape didn't take to sneering every time he entered a room), and Professor Dumbledore who had yet to make any sort of indication of opinion on the subject, something Oliver and Marcus greatly appreciated.
For the most part, both Oliver and Marcus where left well alone with the exception of the Gryffindor Quidditch team who kept trying (and failing) to steer conversations in the direction of him and Marcus.
However, the whole issue reached a head early march in the great hall.
Adrian and Marcus (who where once best friends) where arguing over a decision Marcus had made concerning Quidditch, when he switched Adrian and Montague's positions as Chasers, so Adrian was now right wing and Graham Left wing.
The pair had just reached the great hall when Adrian turned angrily to Marcus, a vain throbbing out of his temple.
"Fucking hell!" the boy yelled, grabbing the attention of most of the Great Hall. "Since when does being a fucking pouf make you bloody stupid as well? Or did you get banged by Wood to hard and lose all your brain cells?"
Marcus promptly smashed his fist into the side of Adrian's face.
It took almost a month and 4 days for Adrian to apologise for being such a prick.
Ever since that day, Oliver had grown fond of calling Marcus the name 'Brutus' something Marcus never fully under stood.
Brutus always reminded him to much of the name Troll the students of Hogwarts had deemed a good insult to hurl out at him in every argument.
And so, as Marcus lay of the cool grass that wound around the lakes edge, his potions text book lay open in front of him, but unread as Marcus' opted instead to watch as Oliver thoughtfully chewed on the end of his quill as he thought about an appropriate way to begin his essay.
"Why Brutus?" Marcus said suddenly, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better look at Oliver.
Oliver looked up in confusion, before understanding dawned across his face. He placed his quill back upon the grass before crossing his legs over one another, and letting his hands fall to rest by his sides.
"Marcus Junius Brutus," Oliver said slowly, illustrating each word as if hoping it would mean something to Marcus. When Marcus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, Oliver elaborated "He was a Muggle from back in the roman times. He had grown close to a man named Julius Ceaser who was sort of the 'leader' of Rome at the time. But Marcus realised, with the help of the senate's, how corrupt Julius had become and so he betrayed the man he had once considered his Father, and assassinated him."
There was a short pause as Marcus took all of it in, "not the most cheerful of stories then," he said eventually, still very confused as to what this had to do with him.
"You remind me of that sometimes, you came from a pure-blooded family, brought up to believe that Muggle-borns are the lowest of the low, that Gryffindor are the worst sort of people, and yet here we are, it's like you've done something none of the others have done yet, and realised just how corrupt that way of living is."
There was another short pause before Marcus' face broke out into a smile, "well that's a lot better than I was imagining, all of this was your fault anyway,"
"My fault?" Oliver frowned.
"Yeah, the only reason any of this started was because you heard me crying, and couldn't leave it alone, bloody nosy Gryffindor," Marcus grinned fondly at the brown haired boy, before adding "have you never wondered why I call you kitten?"
Oliver frowned once again, not really sure where Marcus was going with this.
"It's because of the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'"
"But you call me kitten, not cat?" Oliver was growing more and more confused by the second,.
"that's because I find your stupidity could only be rivalled by that of a kitten," Marcus kept his face straight for a few moments, before dissolving into laughter at the sight of Oliver's outraged face.
"besides,' Marcus said softly, pushing himself towards where Oliver sat "you're adorable like one too," Grinning as Oliver flushed a maroon red, Marcus pressed his lips softly against Oliver's forehead.
Marcus decided that there were worse people to be named after then Brutus.