So...blame Becca (Aebbe) for this.
Without giving too much away, it's the evolution of the friendship between Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley. As we know from canon, they shared a dorm, but whether they were friends or not is unclear.
So the format of this multichap (which was meant to only be a oneshot...) is that each chapter will be a different school year. It'll have a couple of scenes in it; new scenes are marked by .-. whereas developments in the same scene are split by a .
Enjoy!
Everything from leaving platform nine and three quarters to reaching the Gryffindor first year boys' dormitory is a blur for Oliver Wood. He remembers waving goodbye to his parents and little sister who will never be joining him at Hogwarts, and he vaguely recalls the rolling hills and vast fields that the Hogwarts Express sped through, but they're mere split second memories. He can't recall any of the conversations he had on the train with his best childhood friend, Edward Bones, but he can remember the first time he saw Hogwarts, from the seat in the little boat which crossed the vast lake.
He remembers waiting in a long line for his name to be called, remembers hearing that Edward had been sorted into Hufflepuff, and hoping that he wouldn't trip over on his way towards the Sorting Hat.
He doesn't remember what the hat said to him, but he does remember the result: the cry of Gryffindor, and the resultant cheer which emanated from the table to his left.
As he takes a seat on his bed, Oliver tries to bring back some of the moments of his long, long first day at Hogwarts.
And then a voice.
"Hm, I wonder whether we keep this room, or if we get moved every year," the red-haired boy who Oliver vaguely recognises as being Percy Weasley states, taking a seat on the bed next to Oliver's.
"My brother told me that he stayed in his room every year," another boy, Paul Harrison, says from across the room. "But that's Ravenclaw, so I don't know if that's the same here."
The conversation continues, but Oliver becomes distracted, looking down at his luggage. His owl isn't here – but he expected that she'd have been taken to the Owlery. There's something missing…his broom!
Not caring about the conversation he's interrupting, Oliver shouts, "my broom! Someone's stolen my broom!"
Three of the other four boys rush across, lifting up the various parcels and boxes that consist of Oliver's luggage, looking in vain for a broom-shaped object.
"Maybe it's been left on the train!" is the contribution of Tom Johnson, resident of the bed opposite Oliver's. "I always leave something on the train, my mum's always getting mad about it."
"Or maybe one of the Slytherins took it – my dad told me we can't trust them," Patrick Sullivan calls out. "We should call one of the teachers, they can hunt it down…wait, where's my broom?"
It's only after another minute of the boys searching that they realise one isn't hunting: Percy.
"Your brooms aren't lost, they're just in the Gryffindor broom cupboard," Percy finally says, his voice tinged with the arrogance of knowingness. "That's down by the Quidditch pitch, by the way. My brother told me."
One of the boys mutters, "you could have told us that earlier," evidently irritated, but Oliver doesn't join him. Instead, he's relieved that his broom isn't lost and hasn't been stolen by Slytherins.
"Thanks, Percy," Oliver says, something clicking in his head. Percy. Brother. Weasley. Surely that isn't… "Wait…is your brother Charlie Weasley?"
The smug look on Percy's look intensifies as he nods. "Yeah he is. Captain this year, too. Youngest captain ever apparently – he's only a fourth year."
The rest of the boys in the dorm fade away from Oliver's attention as he focuses on the fact that he is sharing a dorm with Charlie Weasley's brother! He's only heard stories about the wonderkid Seeker from his older cousin, who recently graduated; apparently, he's the best Seeker in a century, and could play for England if he wanted to. And now he's in Gryffindor, he could get to meet Charlie, and maybe, just maybe, he could get himself onto the team.
Aware that he probably should say something, Oliver stutters out, "so do you play Quidditch with him when he's home from school? I bet you're really good."
Something in Percy's expression drops as he replies, "only now and then. He doesn't really play at home."
Oliver senses that Percy's not telling the truth, but he doesn't push it. He doesn't want to offend Charlie Weasley's brother – and it wouldn't be very nice to be rude on the first day of term.
So, with difficulty, Oliver pushes all thoughts of Quidditch and the Gryffindor Team and Charlie Weasley out of his head, and starts the monotonous, arduous process of unpacking. Hogwarts life has finally begun.
.-.
They're four weeks into term now, the five Gryffindor boys and their female counterparts, and it's time for their first flying lesson. They're learning with Hufflepuff, something Oliver's particularly pleased about as it means he'll get to see his friend, Edward, again.
This day has been the day he's been looking forward to since the day he received his timetable. He hasn't ridden his broom since he arrived; Professor McGonagall told him that the broom cupboard was out of bounds until Madam Hooch had assessed his proficiency on a broom. Not that that has stopped him trying, of course. He's three detentions down, and will probably receive at least another two before he's allowed into the cupboard.
"Excited?" Oliver says as he turns to Percy on their way down to the Quidditch pitch. There's an extra spring in his step, and his excitement is growing every inch they get closer to the moment when he can touch a broom again.
Percy nods, but there's a distinct lack of enthusiasm. He's the only one in the entire group who doesn't seem particularly bothered about flying lessons – Oliver's pretty sure that he asked Professor McGonagall whether he even had to go.
"I bet you'll be the best of us all," Oliver continues, though he's a little bit jealous. Percy's so good at all of their subjects – even History of Magic – and knows everything. Even though Oliver's mum taught him a little bit of magic before Hogwarts, it's still nowhere near enough to compete with Percy. "I mean, Charlie's your brother."
In the four weeks he's been at Hogwarts, Oliver's seen Charlie's face five times and come within a metre of him three. The one time that he attempted to speak to Charlie, all that came out was an muttered "Er…..hiyouplayquidditchright?" before he practically ran back to his dorm.
Percy doesn't respond, and Oliver doesn't push him. It's the second time that he's seen Percy behave this way: quiet, unconfident and generally not wanting to be there. The first time was that first day in the dorm, when Oliver mentioned Charlie.
Maybe he's scared of flying? But Oliver disregards this thought; there is no way that Charlie Weasley's brother can be scared of flying.
Before Percy can answer, they're at the location for their flying lesson, and with the clamour of twenty first years together, it's too loud for him to answer. Perhaps this was a deliberate decision, perhaps not, but either way, Oliver doesn't press for an answer. It would be rude, and he wouldn't like it.
Just like he doesn't like the prying questions about his sister.
Another minute passes, and then Madam Hooch is breezing past until she's standing in front of them all.
"Good afternoon, class," she begins, her tone firm. She instantly reminds Oliver of Professor McGonagall – though hopefully she'll be less likely to give him detention. "For some, you will have ridden a broom many times before; for others, you will never have seen a broomstick. For yet others, you may have brought a broom to Hogwarts with you," she continues, and Oliver swears that she looks him directly in the eye for a moment.
"Today, we will consider the basics of flying, with the aim of ensuring you all feel confident and competent sitting upon a broom. Any questions?"
Oliver's hand is the first one in the air. "Can we ride our own brooms?" He's desperate to see his Cleansweep again; ever since he received it for his tenth birthday, they've never been apart.
"Training brooms are provided for all first years until their competency on a broom has been established," Madam Hooch replies.
But after one quick glance at the brooms on the ground, Oliver can't stop himself.
"But they're…crap!" he cries, hearing a collective oooohhh emanate from the group surrounding him. "I can fly, I've been flying for years. Why can't I just get my broom from the cupboard?"
Madam Hooch smiles a wry smile, looking more closely at Oliver. "You're the Wood that Professor McGonagall has had in detention three times, I believe, for attempting to enter my cupboard without permission?" she clarifies, and Oliver has to nod. "Well, Mr Wood, perhaps if you learn the meaning of patience, you will gain access to your beloved broom. This, however, will not be today."
Patience has never been something that Oliver's had, particularly where his broom is concerned.
He doesn't pay attention to the rest of what Madam Hooch has to say – it's probably something stupid about how to hold a broom, which he learnt years ago – and only pays attention again when someone taps him on the shoulder.
Percy.
"I, well, do you want to be partners?" Percy asks, and Oliver nods in agreement before realising that he'd previously said he'd work with Edward.
After picking up one of the training brooms each, Oliver and Percy move to a faraway spot on the field. Part of the reason they've gone so far is because Oliver wants to try to get off the ground without Madam Hooch noticing, but he's pretty sure that Percy wanted to be this far out, too.
"Up," Oliver says to his broom, with his hand held out in the air, waiting. It rises immediately.
"Up," Percy says to his broom, with his hand in the air, just like Oliver's.
His broom doesn't move.
"Up," he tries again.
"Up."
"Up."
"Up."
"UP!"
And there's still nothing.
Oliver understands now why Percy doesn't like talking about Quidditch and flying, and anything to do with his brother being the team captain. It's because flying is the one thing he can't do.
.
As they're walking back to the castle forty five minutes later, Oliver turns to Percy. After fifteen attempts, the broom did rise into his hand, though that was about as far as they had gotten. In comparison, Wood had risen off the ground on his broom – just a few inches – before Madam Hooch caught him and threatened him with detention.
"Look, Percy," Oliver begins, noting how Percy's shoulders tensed. "Quidditch and flying is the one thing that I can do pretty well. So…I was wondering…" he hesitates, wondering if he should continue.
"Do you want me to coach you?" Oliver blurts it out, wondering if Percy will be offended. In the four weeks they've known one another, any time that anyone has insulted Percy's intelligence, there's been an argument in which Percy has used at least ten words that nobody else understands, just to prove his intelligence.
There's a moment's silence before Percy replies. "Really?"
"Yes really," Oliver replies, his voice firm. "I know loads about why brooms fly and tactics to get them to work better for you – it's all about the confidence. And then I read a book in the summer about formations and how it's better in some games to play with certain formations than others, it was really interesting." Part of him wonders whether Percy will do better if he knows more about the nature and fundamentals of flying – and that's also something that he's pretty knowledgeable on. One of his proudest possessions is Quidditch through the Ages, after all.
"Well, thanks," Percy says, his voice quiet. Then, speaking more loudly, he adds, "I'll tutor you in Transfiguration, of course. Merlin knows you need the help."
It's in this moment that the unlikely friendship between the Quidditch obsessed Oliver Wood and the stubborn yet principled Percy Weasley begins to blossom.
Please let me know what you think!