Disclaimer: The characters used in the fiction are the property of JK Rowling and her associates. No money is being made from this so no suing please.

Author's Note – I've had a couple of plot bunnies in my head since I reread CoS and this is the second one. This is Oliver's POV and it kinda focuses on his friendship with Percy and him developing feelings for young Mr Weasley. This is slash, admittedly one side but still, if that doesn't interest you then don't read this. Flames are a pain and of no use to anyone, least of all me. One other thing, I want Oliver to be Scottish but I also want this to be readable to all so I've used dialect but hopefully not too liberally that no one can read the story. Any comments are welcome as are reviews and constructive criticism.

I Hate Her

I hate her. She's lying on a hospital bed, petrified, and I hate her. She cannae move, cannae eat, no sleep or thoughts of any kind, a complete vegetable and I hate her. She was attacked by Slytherin's monster, could've been killed, and if Professor Sprout's potion doesnae work, might never wake up and I hate her. She's sweet and kind, really smart wi' a wicked sense of humour, loves Quidditch, adores Percy and I hate her. How sick am I?

Percy and I've been best friends for the better part of six years. We'd built up this great relationship, this closeness. We keep each others secrets, know each others fears and encourage each others aspirations. Aye, so we're really different but we sort of compliment each other.

For example, I help him wi' his potions making because his mind's too logical to get the 'art' of it, but he helps me wi' the theory of it all because I'm too flaky to take it all in. He proof reads all my essays for me because I can't spell for shit and I taught him to fly, to respect the broom and no' fear it. He cleans up after me, what wi' me being a messy, lazy bugger and I make sure to drag him to meals, even when he doesnae want to go 'cause he has an essay to write or spell to perfect.

Then there's the more personal stuff. Like when his brothers and sister drive him round the bend, I'm the only one who can calm him down. When Quidditch has my head in the clouds, Percy helps ground me. I encourage him to dream a little higher than 'Assistant to the Minister for Magic' and he's helping me to prepare my applications to a few different Quidditch teams. He indulges my obsession wi' Quidditch and winning the cup, no' to mention my huge collection of Muggle comic books, and I encourage his love of art and music. I'm the only person who's heard him play the piano and he's good enough to be a concert pianist, easy.

We were the only two boys in oor year sorted into Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall said that the last time that happened was almost 500 years ago. Percy later told me it was exactly 487 years ago, according to 'Hogwarts: A History', at least. Oor first night at Hogwarts, right after the feast, she pulled Percy and me into her office. She wanted to impress on us how important it was for us "to get along and to set an example to the other houses." To be honest, I thought she was being a bit cheeky. Percy and I had only just met and here she was, expecting us to be bestest pals by the end of the night. I said as much as we returned to oor dormitory but Percy, rule loving authority obeying Percy, decided we should at least try.

We ended up talking for hours that night. He told me all about being one of seven, his brothers and sister. By that point I'd met his older brothers at the feast and they seemed nice and dead proud of Percy getting into Gryffindor. He told me about the madness that is his home life, how he has no time to himself and how he's given up fighting for his parents' attention, what wi' four younger siblings all under the age of ten. He talked about his favourite books and composers, his favourite artists and paintings and how he always tries to find order, even in chaos.

And I told him about me. My favourite Quidditch team is Puddlemere United and I really hope I get to play for them someday. I've been collecting Muggle comic books for years. I love Superman but my favourites are X-Men. I also told him about my home life. At home it's just me, Mum and Dad. I used to have an older brother, Dominic. He was a fair bit older than me and, after leaving Hogwarts, went to fight in the war. He died when I was three, only a month before You-Know-Who was, I dunno the proper word, defeated, I suppose. I don't remember him, never have, but Mum and Dad tell me stories about him and I think we'd have been pretty close.

Most people would think that after losing one child my parents would be overbearing and overprotective but they've been brilliant. I couldn't ask for better parents. Really encouraging and accepting, they were proud of Dominic and the choices he made and they've always let me know they're proud of me as well. It'd be nicer if they were a bit stricter. Well, maybe nicer's the wrong word but it's so bloody hard to rebel when your mum and dad are so tolerant.

By the end of first year we were inseparable. We exchanged loads of owls that summer and met up in Diagon Alley before going back to school. Even the teachers noticed oor friendship. Snape would insult us at the same time ("Weasley, your ability to ruin the simplest of potions is surpassed only by Wood's ability to misspell the simplest of word") while Flitwick took to referring to the two of us as one person. Even me making the Quidditch team in third year didnae get in the way. Just meant Percy had to hear me talk about Quidditch even more.

Then last year I found myself thinking less than friendly thoughts about Percy. We'd be studying together in the library, I'd glance down to look at what Percy's writing, catching sight of his long, nimble fingers holding his quill and next thing I know I'm wondering what it'd feel like to have something else in that firm grip. Aye, wouldn't you know? Oliver Wood, Quidditch captain, Mr Popular, the ultimate man's man, had gone and fallen for his male best friend. 'Man's man' was right, I suppose.

I started to get depressed over it (unrequited love sucks, by the way) and, of course, Percy noticed how withdrawn I was being. I pulled myself together, made myself focus on winning the Quidditch Cup; I had to so I'd stop pushing Percy away. I didn't want to lose his friendship just because I suddenly decided it was a great idea to fancy my best mate. I did tell Percy I was gay, just didnae mention my new found 'crush' (Merlin, do I hate that word). He was brilliant about it. He didnae do that 'my best friend's gay; this is so awkward' thing. He didnae treat me any differently at all. He knew I'd tell people when I was ready so he kept my sexuality to himself and didnae try and pressure me to tell others. He did, however, keep trying to convince me that Roger Davies was gay ("No man goes through that many girls unless he's trying to prove something, Oliver").

But I shouldn't have expected anything less; we've always been close. The gruesome Gryffindor twosome, nothing and no one could ever come between us…that was until Percy Weasley met Penelope Clearwater. And I got left behind.

Instead of studying wi' me, he studies with Penelope. Instead of us helping each other wi' homework, he helps Penelope. Instead of playing chess and just hanging out in the common room wi' me, he spends all his time wi' her. My marks dropped considerably, the teachers commenting on how drastically downhill the quality and presentation of my written work had gone. What could I tell them? "Well, Professor Snape, Percy went and got a girlfriend which means my homework's going to be shite from now on. Sorry." I told everyone I was focussing on the Quidditch Cup. I mean, they all thought I was the dumb Quidditch jock anyway, why shouldn't I play to their prejudice? McGonagall gave me hell but the old 'Gryffindor pride' speech kept her at bay. It still does.

Penny makes him so happy though. Percy and I are still paired together in most classes and all throughout class she's all he talks about. Once I caught him scribbling her name during Potions class. Lucky for Percy, I also clocked Snape heading oor way before the overgrown bat could catch Percy as well. At night he comes in the dorm beaming from ear to ear, talking of nothing but how much fun Penny is and how smart Penny is and did you know when Penny smiles she has the most adorable dimples and, of course, she's bound to be Head Girl. They always look so happy together. No' that they're ever openly couply together but to someone in the know, such as myself, it's easy to see. The sneaked glances, lingering touches, shy smiles. It'd all be a bit clichéd if it wasnae Percy.

If I didnae know Penelope cared about Percy as much as he cares for her, it would rationalise my hatred. If she was an overbearing, controlling, vindictive bitch then, okay, I could hate her freely and openly but she's no'. And to be honest, I didnae even hate her before now. You see, before she and Percy got together, Penelope was my friend. Hell, she's still my friend, ever since she came up to me after my first Gryffindor game only to tell me exactly where I'd gone wrong. I admired her, to be honest, her knowledge of the game and her guts to just come up to me like that. We'd chat between classes and when she told me she was having trouble with Transfiguration I introduced her to Percy. She's a great girl and she makes Percy happy, which has always been important to me.

But it's different now. She's lying on that bed, staring into space, face vacant and I hate her. Percy's in oor dorm, determined no' to cry. He's stopped making an effort in classes; he's just sort of going through the motions, you know. Just keeps going 'cause what else is there to do. He's lost his light and it's her fault. She's broken his heart and I hate her. I'll always hate her for that.