All three of them are alone when they meet on the Hogwarts Express, and by chance they all end up in the same train compartment. Percy had been abandoned by his older brothers almost immediately, as had Audrey with her older sister, but Oliver had wandered onto the train alone. Oliver talks a lot, Percy does not, and Audrey falls somewhere in the middle. Percy's hair is bright red, Oliver's is a dark brown, and Audrey falls somewhere in the middle. Percy has five brothers and a sister, Audrey has five much older sisters, Oliver is an only child. It's a dynamic that works so well that they all leave the train with the feeling that they could be together for a long time.
By chance they are the last three first-years sorted that ceremony. Weasley. Then Wilson. Then Wood.
By chance they are all sorted into Gryffindor.
Percy quickly makes himself known as an insufferable know-it-all. By the second week into the year he's already a month ahead of the class with readings and homework. He begs the professors for extra credit work, no matter how trivial, in order to be constantly improving. He answers all the questions asked to his classmates, gives no chances to those who might also be able to respond. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws soon go to class with him with glares in their eyes, rivalries in their hearts. But Percy is Percy, and he doesn't care about the rest of them as long as he remains the best.
Oliver falls behind in school almost as quickly as Percy pulls ahead. It's not for lack of intelligence, it's just that he doesn't care much. He wishes and wishes for first year to end so he can bring his own broom to school and try out for the Quidditch team, marks be damned. He only straightens out his act when Percy reminds him that if he doesn't make good grades he'll be pulled from the team without a second thought. But Oliver is Oliver and no matter how he tries nothing will be as important to him as Quidditch.
Audrey falls right in the middle. She's not behind and she's not ahead. Her marks aren't as good as Percy's but they're not as bad as Oliver's. She writes her notes and does her homework, but also laughs and goofs off. She is ridiculed by Oliver for being too serious, but also ridiculed by Percy for not being serious enough. But Audrey is Audrey and she falls in-between, letting Oliver copy her homework, asking Percy for help with what she doesn't understand.
Percy and Oliver soon learn that Audrey loves photography. She has her camera out constantly, taking pictures of Percy studying, of Oliver laughing. Anytime she can get all three of them into the shot she can. Her camera is out at every major event, capturing smiles and seriousness alike.
It takes longer for Percy and Oliver to realize that it's not photography that Audrey loves, it's the memories. To Audrey her photos are constant reminders of good times, and she need only look at them to smile happily. At the end of first year, while the three of them are on the train back to King's Cross, she pulls out her camera to take a picture, "because we survived our first year at Hogwarts!" Oliver's smile is huge. Percy's smile is small but joyful. Audrey is somewhere in-between.
Her favourite photo of her friends she takes when they are in their fifth year. Oliver and Percy are sitting on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Oliver's smile reaches all the way across his face as he sticks his foot, minus his shoe, into the redhead's face. Percy, naturally, looks wholly disgusted with the situation. But, if you look close enough, you can see that he's smiling and laughing. From the way the scene shakes up and down, anyone who isn't Audrey can tell that she had clearly been laughing hysterically when this photo was taken. Audrey can hear her laughter mixing in with her two friends every time she looks at this photo.
In second year Oliver forces Audrey to try out for the Quidditch team with him. She's a fair flyer, and knows the rules enough to comfortably try out as a chaser. She's not the worst on the pitch that day, but she's certainly not the best either. But she tries her hardest, just in case. Audrey's not surprised when she doesn't make the cut, but the way Oliver smiles at her as he thanks her for "going out there with me. I played a lot better knowing that I had a friend out there. Thanks mate," is better than making the team.
Oliver, unsurprisingly, is one of the strongest players trying out. He had no brothers, no sisters, to practice with him as a child but he learned by reading. He read every Quidditch strategy guide he can find; went to every game he could convince his parents to take him to. He was the youngest child in his village, by far, but sometimes the older kids would let him play with them, telling him little tricks. He nearly cries when he's told, aged twelve, that he's been made keeper for the house team.
Percy doesn't try out. While he had grown up playing the sport, he wasn't competitive or interested enough to bother playing it without his siblings. But he goes to the try outs anyways, albeit with a book in his hand, to support his two best friends. Charlie Weasley, sixth year, Gryffindor seeker, finally-Quidditch-captain, flies over to his younger brother sitting in the stands at some point. Percy smiles at his brother as he compliments "one of best young keepers I've ever seen. Seriously, Perce, where'd you find this guy? Why's he friends with you?"
In third year Marcus Flint won't stop asking Audrey out, won't stop bothering her at every opportunity. She doesn't get why. At thirteen she'd started to grow into her looks, with shoulder-length auburn hair and blue eyes, but she's not used to being the object of anyone's fancy. And, frankly, she doesn't like the attention. And definitely not from Marcus Flint. She quietly tells Percy and Oliver about it, and neither of them know what to do.
Oliver would fight him on the Quidditch pitch if he could. If he were a chaser, he could fly him down. If he were a beater, he could beat him down. But, alas, he was a keeper and couldn't fly too far away from the hoops. For the first time he he's found something that he cares about more than Quidditch, and that's keeping Audrey happy. Oliver can't stand it when his friend is sad, though he's not too surprised about that feeling.
Percy, in a bout of unprecedented spontaneity, eventually decides to just punch Flint in the face. He has always believed that no one caught him doing this violent act, except for a bloody-nosed Marcus and a wide-eyed Audrey. Charlie Weasley, seventh year, Gryffindor prefect (but not head boy, to some short lived personal shame) witnesses the entire scene. He doesn't report it or take away points because he can't stop laughing. Marcus doesn't bother Audrey so much after that.
Percy decides in their fourth year that he needs to get a head start on studying for OWLs. He starts spending all his time going between classes and the library. He only has success on his mind, only has his family's approval to look forward to. He desperately wants that attention, that "good job" he's been waiting for. He thinks, in retrospect, that if he had told his friends about this need earlier they might have been more willing to leave him be.
Audrey has more or less already figured it all out. She's good at reading people, more so than Oliver and Percy combined, and is even better at hearing what's not being said. She sees the pang of jealousy that floods Percy's eyes when the three of them are sitting on the couch and Charlie comes over to compliment Oliver on something he had down recently on the Quidditch pitch, completely ignoring Percy in the process. She can see the hurt in his eyes when the twins (second years, absolute devils if you ask her) continuously play pranks on him. Audrey wants to tell Percy that he's doing wonderfully, that she's so proud, but she doesn't think that it's enough.
Oliver, predictably, is obtuse. He doesn't see what Audrey sees. All he notices is his friend missing meals, being quieter than usual, and starting to look abnormally thin. There's a million other ways he can express the fear he has for his best friend but he doesn't know how to show it. After two months of worry Oliver finally has enough and just marches into the library, throws Percy over his shoulder ("Bloody hell, Wood! What are you doing?! Put me down! Right now, Wood! I fucking mean it!"), and carries the redhead all the way to the Great Hall for supper. Oliver knows Percy well enough that his friend will thank him eventually.
And he does, three years later, right before they graduate.
"No, Perce, I'm not surprised that you made prefect."
"Well I was worried there for a moment. What if there was something intrinsically wrong with me that Professor McGonagall could see but I couldn't? I wouldn't be able to show my face at school, look at my parents ever again."
"I'm pretty sure you're overreacting there, mate."
"Oh, come off it Wood."
"By the way Ollie, I heard you made captain this year! I knew you would!"
"Truthfully, mate, I had more faith that you would be the Quidditch captain than I had on me becoming prefect."
"You're a right prat, you know that Weasley?"
"I'm just trying to congratulate you!"
"Well, your brother's gonna be a tough act to follow. And I'm going to need to find a damn good seeker to fill that hole."
"That's all well and good boys, but can you please congratulate me on also becoming prefect?"
"Audrey! I didn't know! Hopefully you can follow the rules and keep the children out of trouble as well as I can."
"Sod off, Percival."
And Audrey takes a picture; three friends, smiles wide across their faces, laughing.
Audrey takes few pictures that year. She's too busy with prefect duties, too busy with studying for OWLs. But the pictures she does manage to take make her smile.
There's Oliver, caught in a trance, having managed to get Harry Potter ("Harry fucking Pottter, Aud!") as the new Gryffindor seeker.
There's Percy, hard at work studying, eyes glaring up at her as the flash goes off.
There's her and Percy at the first Gryffindor match of the year, wearing their house colours, smiles and all.
There's her and Oliver, in a picture she convinced one of the twins (she's never been able to tell them apart) to take. They're standing behind a studying Percy, faking concern for his situation. The redhead glares at the camera.
Fifteen-year-old Percy thinks he's starting to like Audrey Wilson a little too much. He finds himself thinking about how her hair sits on her shoulders, how her eyes look like sapphires.
He contemplates telling Oliver about this predicament. His happy-go-lucky, slightly shorter, friend had been bothering him about his mood lately ("I'm telling you Ollie, nothing's wrong with me except for the fact that you won't let me fucking study,"), but then Percy thinks about how one of them would inevitably lose a friend over this situation and he doesn't.
He asks out (the much smarter, prettier) Penelope Clearwater instead. They study together, feet entwined, and he likes the way she smiles as they discuss the proper manner in which to transfigure precious metals.
For what it's worth, Oliver had only been worried because Percy hasn't been eating again. His biggest fault, as Audrey would put it, is that he's blind to the obvious.
Sixth year is spent in constant worry. Percy tries too hard to be an authority figure, to be the person who figures out what's wrong. But he breaks down when Penelope is petrified and finds himself torn between staying by her side in the hospital wing and having full participation in his prefect duties. When Ginny goes missing he finds himself facing what is easily the worst moment of his life so far. Though it's barely a day, he spends it crying his eyes out, face down on his bed, Oliver sitting on his blanket with him patting his hair, Audrey on the floor holding his hand.
Oliver is far too happy that year considering events. He's more worried about Potter getting involved and missing Quidditch than anything else. Oliver spent the year furiously mad at Harry for missing the train. But as he watches Percy fall into a horrendous state of depression, with Penelope's petrification being a breaking point for his tall (when did he get so fucking tall?) best friend. Oliver only wants his friends to be happy. He wants Percy to scold him for slacking off, do anything but be the redheaded shell of his best friend.
Audrey, as usual, falls in-between. She's not nearly as traumatized as Percy is by the whole year, but unlike Oliver she's scared. She's scared of the heir of Slytherin deciding that all students with muggle blood need to be eliminated, and half-blood Audrey Wilson is terrified at the thought. She spends many nights having quiet nightmares. She never acted like she needed the attention, but Audrey wanted someone to hold, someone to tell her that she was safe, that she was alright.
Oliver and Percy, always too caught up (often justifiably so) in their own feelings, don't notice.
"Perce, don't tell me you thought you really weren't going to get head boy?"
"Well you never know, Aud, I could have overstepped myself as a prefect."
"You're practically perfect, Weasley. Hell, you were the only reasonable choice."
"You never know."
"They weren't going to pick Marcus fucking Flint over you. He's a right tosser that one."
"I agree with you there, Ollie."
"Percy, we all knew it was going to be you. We all knew. Every bloody student in our year."
"I'm glad to have made an impression then. But Audrey, I am sad that you aren't going to be my partner this year. We worked so well together as prefects."
"I wasn't expecting it anyways, Perce. You and Penny make a great team."
And Audrey takes a picture, like she does every year.
Usually it's just the three of them, by Penelope is constantly there. Audrey and Oliver don't think that she's bad or anything, but the dynamic that they once had was gone. Even though they've been dating since their fifth year, Percy never really hung out with her as well as his best friends. All three of them can feel the dynamic is off, but none of them want to say anything. Percy hopes Penny doesn't notice.
It's Penny that suggests that Audrey and Oliver should date, only to Percy of course. While Percy can see the logic to the pairing, he doesn't like it. And he can't fathom why until he watches as Audrey get up from their table in the library, long auburn hair swaying. He gets a little more careless after that, snogging Penelope in every closet and empty classroom he can get into. He just wants to forget about ever looking at Audrey like that. He just wants to forget.
Even though this year is just as stressful as the last, there's still graduation to look forward to. Percy's mother cries, and Oliver's mother cries, and Audrey's mother doesn't show up. The three of them sit together as Dumbledore makes a speech, and Audrey is so happy that it doesn't even matter that her parents don't think going to their youngest child's graduation is important. She's got Oliver on one side, arm around her, Percy on the other, who keeps looking at her with excitement even if his hand is clasped firmly in Penny's.
Audrey hands her camera over to Penny to have her take a picture of the three of them "because we survived all seven years of Hogwarts and still managed to be friends the entire time!" Audrey stands between Percy and Oliver, both much taller than her but both with their arms around her. They're all so happy to be done and to be together. And, like so many other pictures of them, it's almost as if you can hear their laughter through the moving images.
The summer after Hogwarts is wonderful for Oliver. He had been scouted for Puddlemere United that past year and he was determined to make the team. He spent every waking moment practicing and practicing until he could be sure that he was the only logical choice for a keeper. He got Percy and Audrey to help him. Audrey, a fair flyer and chaser, tried her best to get the quaffle past him. She tried every angle and every speed she was capable of until Oliver bested her every time. Percy would sometimes get on a broom and fly with them, but mostly he would sit on the ground and watch them play, taking notes of what Oliver could improve on. Sometimes Oliver wishes he had more talented Quidditch players to practice with him, but he's happy with who he's got. Oliver makes the team early September and they all go out for a pint. Audrey takes pictures.
Percy gets his ministry job right away. He's more ecstatic than either of his friends have ever seen him. He works odd jobs to pay for a decent, second-hand pair of dress robes to make himself presentable. He polishes his new (cheap, second-hand) glasses with pride. When he gets his first paycheck he takes Oliver and Audrey out for supper in celebration. Penny had broken up with him soon after graduating because "I can tell that I don't mean much to you. I can't be strung along like this Perce, I just can't," and, frankly, he's not too concerned about it. Audrey takes a picture of him and Oliver on Percy's first day at the job, the two best friends smiling proudly, arms around each other.
Audrey's parents don't go to her graduation because they've packed up and moved to America. Her five older sisters go with them. Audrey stays behind. She watches as Percy and Oliver start new pages in their lives. She stays behind. She can't decide what she wants to do with her life now. She and Percy pour over brochures and booklets about various career paths while Oliver sleeps on her couch. She eventually decides on becoming a healer after Percy points out it's the perfect blend of practicality, challenge, and social good. Percy and Oliver go with her to her first day of training. They take a picture. Oliver and Percy are beaming; Audrey looks a little unsure.
The next year flies by for them. Between Quidditch and the Ministry of Magic and healer training at St. Mungo's there's hardly any time for them. They try to put aside times to see each other but they're all so busy. Oliver won't stop practicing. Percy is helping out with the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts, trailing Crouch and other various ministry employees. Audrey goes through the motions in a place where she's not quite sure she wants to be. The only place she's ever belonged is between Oliver and Percy, and now they have no time for her. For the first time in many years, Audrey feels alone.
Oliver loves flying and Quidditch more than anything else, except for maybe his parents and friends. But he finds himself increasingly isolated as the year goes by. Percy's too busy with work, and Audrey with healer training. He finds himself in his own flat, living alone for the first time. He finds that it's hard to sleep without Percy's snores coming from beside him. Several times he wants to spontaneously take them for supper, but finds himself unable to. Both of them are happy, Oliver thinks, and he doesn't want to disrupt them. Oliver, though, feels very alone.
Percy can feel himself fading. He loves working in the ministry so much but he can't help but feel shame for who his family is, can't stop the embarrassment when his father approaches him at work. He's not used to this feeling but it feels so natural. He hates himself for feeling this way, hates himself for thinking so little of his family. And with Oliver so busy and Audrey in training, Percy finds himself very, very alone.
When she's fifteen Audrey briefly wonders what it would be like to kiss Percy. She's a teenager and hormonal and there's something about Percy that's so fucking attractive to her. She stays up late some nights imagining the sorts of things girls want to do with the boy she fancies. Sometimes what her imagination comes up with makes her blush. She can't say anything to anyone, especially not Oliver, because it would just ruin the entire dynamic of it all. At any rate, she had thought, it's Penny who Percy is kissing and there's nothing else to it.
When they're both nineteen they get drunk in her flat. They're both lonely and sad and confused as to where their lives are heading. Percy's walked out on his family, Audrey's family walked out on her. They wake up naked in bed with horrible headaches and "for Merlin's sake Audrey, what the fuck did we do?!"
They both decide that something that happened drunk isn't something that's worth fighting over. They both decide that it's not worth ignoring either, though neither of them want to hash out the story more times than necessary. It does put a wedge between them, one that Oliver eyes suspiciously, but it's brief. Neither of them talk about how drunk actions speak sober minds; neither of them want to face that situation.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me, mate! Audrey tell him he's gone mad!"
"Well…"
"So you just got fucking drunk and started shagging like fucking rabbits!?"
"To be fair, Ollie, I don't remember what actually happened. We just woke up like that."
"Yeah, at some point it all went black."
"So I don't have to live with the knowledge that my two friends shagged? Because I don't think I can live with that, mates."
"No, Oliver, everything's fine."
"I'm sure drunk me would have rather jumped on anything else other than Percy, anyways."
And Oliver laughs so hard that firewhiskey comes out his nose directly onto Percy, who freaks out. Audrey takes a picture. The fact that she perfectly remembers what happened that night goes unsaid. She wonders if Percy remembers and is just lying like she is.
Oliver watches as Percy becomes a shell of himself, worse than when his mind was consumed with studying back when they were students. Percy's throwing himself into his work but it's like it doesn't matter anymore. Oliver knows that Percy no longer talks to his family but it's plain to see that it's absolutely killing him inside. Oliver wants Percy to go home but it's only been a few months and he's already given up on telling him off. This isn't like Hogwarts where problems can be solved by Oliver throwing Percy (who was always taller than him) over his shoulder and drag him to where he needs to be. Oliver decides he has to let Percy be an adult.
Audrey has always been able to understand Percy. She can see that he's throwing himself into his work more than usual, but she can also see that it doesn't mean anything anymore. It doesn't mean anything without a family to prove his worth to, without siblings to tease him about working so hard. He's just going through the motions, which is something she knows all too well. Percy was never much of a smiler, but it's happening even less now and Audrey is worried. She knows Oliver is worried too. Audrey wonders how much longer they have to stand idly by before they have to intervene.
Percy is numb. He's numb and nothing matters anymore. He gets his paperwork done on time. He goes home and eats. He reads newspaper clippings about how amazing Oliver is doing in professional Quidditch. He thinks he should go to a game sometime, or at least owl him more often. Sometimes Audrey comes over and they drink together, the events of that night looming over them like a storm cloud. He doesn't know how to act when he's alone, his earliest memories involve the hustle and bustle of what feels like a million people. But Percy continues on his self-made path of destruction because he's the one who left; he's the one who wanted something more.
Audrey graduates and becomes a healer. She's nowhere near the top of her class but that's alright with her. She writes her family overseas but they don't come to her graduation, only send her short congratulatory letters back. She's twenty now and still doesn't understand why she's never been good enough for them, why nothing she does matters. Oliver and Percy come to her graduation, and they take a picture. Oliver is the only one smiling. Audrey specialized in dark magic wounds, just in case.
Percy gets promoted at the ministry and he just can't find it in himself to care. This had been what he wanted, what he'd always wanted, and now it just doesn't matter anymore. There's no photos taken when he tells his friends. They understand, and all three of them crack open a firewhiskey to drown out the silence. Oliver tries to make jokes to lighten the mood, but all three of them know what the implications of Percy's sadness are. Audrey goes home. Oliver sleeps in his bed. Percy finds it easier to sleep with Oliver's snores in his ear.
Oliver is torn between his dream and his friends. He's only twenty but he's got everything he had ever wanted, doesn't he? He loves Quidditch so, so much and it's so, so important to him but it doesn't feel like enough. It can't be enough when he's watching Percy kill himself and Audrey fall deeper into a depressive state. He wants to stop playing and focus on getting his friends better. He just wants them to be happy so, so much. But he can't just stop playing Quidditch without destroying a part of himself. Oliver is torn between helping his friends and helping himself and he just doesn't know what to do.
Then Dumbledore dies and everything changes. More than ever Percy wants to go home and apologize and try to make everything better but he can't. He's lost his chance. With Dumbledore dead anyone who was too openly on his side is now the enemy of the ministry. It's no longer safe to go home on unofficial business but he wants to go home so much. He knows Bill is getting married, he received the invitation. He let it burn in the fireplace; he doesn't want them to be in more danger because he decided to show up.
Oliver, at the behest of Percy and Audrey, stops giving political opinions during interviews. He knows it dangerous to speak his mind but he doesn't want to hide who he is. He wants to tell the world how Harry Potter, wonderful boy and seeker, is going to make everything alright somehow. But he doesn't want to make Percy and Audrey cross with him so he shuts his mouth. His friends know where he stands though, all three of them are on the same page when it comes to wanting a life without You-Know-Who.
Audrey takes a month of leave off work. It's too stressful, what with the rise of dark magic infected patients and patients who have been under the Imperius curse so long there's none of them left. She never wanted to be a healer but she wants to help these poor witches and wizards but she can't and it's too stressful and she doesn't know what to do. She spends night after night at Oliver's flat getting drunk and crying. He always holds her and tells her everything is alright. She doesn't cry on Percy's shoulder; she doesn't know what either of them would do in that situation. Nothing proper, she decides.
Percy and Audrey end up in the 'nothing proper' zone anyways, after her month of leave has ended. They don't know for sure what's happening in the mind of the other but they have their ideas. Both of them are numb and they just want to feel something, anything. The motions are too natural, to the point of being jarring, but they do it anyway. They shag in the dark, neither of them wanting to look at the other in these instances because it just keeps happening. It becomes a weekly thing for them. When the lights are off they are no longer with one another, they're with someone that will help them feel.
Because Audrey has a strong imagination, she imagines what it would be like with someone who actually wants her, actually wants to make love to her. She thinks about what it would entail and knows that she just wants it to be Percy no matter what situation. But they shag in the dark and she tries to forget who she's with and what she feels. A lover might spread kisses across her collarbone, Percy only leaves tears. There are no longing kisses or soft caresses, just two people going through the motions. She hopes that it's making Percy feel better, but she's left yearning for a connection that's not quite there yet.
Oliver knows something is going on. He may be blind to the obvious but he's not stupid for fuck's sake. He can see the long glances Percy and Audrey throw at each other when they think the other is looking. He doesn't know exactly what's going on between them but if his two best friends have fallen in love with each other he doesn't want to stop it. He wants them to be happy together. He doesn't say anything; he wants them to figure out their feelings themselves. He hopes that the reason that they're not already together is him.
"Hey, Perce?"
"Yeah?"
"What are we doing?"
"I don't know, Audrey."
"Then why do we end up like this so often? I just don't understand."
"I don't know either, Aud."
"… we're not going to stop, are we?"
"Do you want to stop?"
"Not particularly. Do you?"
"Not particularly."
And so they lie there in the dark. They don't talk anymore about it after that. The tension is too palpable, too thick.
They spend Christmas together at Oliver's flat. They don't buy each other anything, it seems silly to worry about presents when there's a war going on. None of them feel safe, but being together is better than apart. They drink firewhiskey and eat a Christmas ham that Oliver's mom sent to him. They try not to talk about the future or the present, instead they focus on the past. Audrey has brought her collection of pictures of them and they try to remember all the good times.
There's Oliver, broom in hand, ready for his first day as Gryffindor keeper. There's Percy, trying to carry too many books at once. There's Audrey and Percy cheering at one of the many Quidditch matches they went to. There's Audrey at Quidditch tryouts. There's Percy and Oliver fighting in the common room. There's Oliver and Audrey in the Great Hall.
They sit and laugh and look at all the memories they made before everything went wrong. Before Percy and Audrey lost their families. Before work and training and matches took them away from one another. They sit there, Oliver on the couch, Audrey on the floor leaning against his legs, Percy lying with his head in her lap, a family of their own.
"Hey, did Audrey leave?"
"Yeah, she left in the middle of the night. Must have been important."
"She probably just didn't want to hear the two of us snore our way through Christmas."
"That's probably likely."
"Hey, Perce?"
"Yeah, Ol?"
"What's going on between the two of you?"
"Nothing important."
"Percy, you don't have to lie to me."
"Right now it's nothing important, Oliver. Maybe one day it will be, but not now."
"You know I'll always support you two, right?"
"Thanks, mate."
And Oliver, still a little bit drunk from the night before, pecks Percy on the top of his head. He means it as a display of brotherly affection and Percy takes it that way.
The final battle comes both too quickly and not fast enough. Percy gets there first, wanting desperately to fight alongside his family. He's not sure if they want to see him, but they welcome him back with open arms. After months and years of being lost he's finally back where he belongs. He makes a joke and revels in Fred's familiar laugh before it fades away too soon. He hadn't wanted it to disappear so soon.
Oliver gets there last. He's ready to fight but he's scared. It takes him about an hour to work himself up in order to enter the castle. When he does enter he's not feeling as brave as a Gryffindor should feel, but he goes in anyway. Nothing prepares him for what he sees inside. He'll never forget lifting the small body of Colin Creevy up and taking him to the row of the dead. He remembers a younger, smaller Colin at age eleven, taking muggle style photographs. Oliver doesn't understand why someone so young had to be taken so soon.
Audrey arrives between Percy and Oliver. She's not a fighter, not like Oliver and Percy, and sets to helping Madame Pomfrey with tending the injured. Although she had barely put any effort during healer training she was glad she had that experience now. But something inside her hates doing this. She hates that she had to treat the wounds of children, she hates seeing all the dead and knowing how many broken homes there'll be after everything is said and done. She tries not to think of everyone who had their lives stolen so soon.
In the moments after the war it's hard to know what to do. Audrey keeps tending the wounded, but as the numbers among them grow less, the wounds more mental than physical, she becomes tense. She has to deal with the fact that all the living here have lost someone today. That even though the greatest evil is gone, for so many people there's going to be an unfillable hole in their lives. She looks over at Percy, finally with his family again, and tries to understand his pain. Tries to understand what it's like to lose a brother. She's lost her family but not in the same way. She wonders what the best way to reach out to him is, but she's almost at a loss for what to do.
Oliver helps carry dead bodies. Good guys, bad guys, and all the shades of grey between them. He doesn't want this job but it's all he can do to help. He's physically strong and that's all that matters. He barely knows the faces of the killed, so he's a better option than the grieving friends and family members in mourning. He tries not think of Fred, he can't stop thinking about Colin. He looks at Percy, and the pain he radiates off himself screams at Oliver. He can't think of a way that he can make it better. All he wants is his happy best friend again, and he's almost at a loss for what to do.
Percy sits slightly apart from his family. He's not a stranger, but he's still a self-made outsider. He thinks of all the things he should have done, all the things he regretted. He wonders, in the first of many episodes of self-loathing over the situation, if he had only stayed by his family's side he would still have Fred. It's too soon to lose a brother who was always so full of life, and he doesn't know how to handle it. He doesn't know who to turn to for help. Luckily for Percy, he's never quite become alone. Audrey is soon with him, sitting in front of him holding his hand. Oliver comes up and leans on him, hugging him from behind. They stay there, in familiar familial silence, and for Percy that makes all the difference.
Oliver goes home to Scotland, to his parents, for the first month after the war. It's not that he's traumatized, per se, but he needs the constant reminder that they're alright. He's one of the lucky ones after the war. He's not plagued with nightmares, though they do happen. He just can't stop thinking about Colin Creevy, who was too young, still innocent. Every once and awhile he thinks about Fred, about the friend he did lose, and knows that nothing can make that ache better. Mostly he thinks about Percy and Audrey. He needs this month apart from them, but he also just wants them to be okay.
Audrey goes to America the month after the war. She doesn't go to Fred Weasley's funeral to be with Percy, although she knows she should. But she wants to find her family, make sure they're okay, make sure they know she's okay. She was the family mistake, the sixth daughter that wasn't supposed to happen, but she wants to rebuild that bridge. She wants to have a future where her parents and sisters are included. For the first time since leaving Hogwarts she feels as if there's hope.
Percy doesn't stay at his flat for the first month after the war. He stays at the Burrow, trying to fix the relationships he broke. He apologizes to everyone, multiple times, because he feels as if the more he says it the more they'll understand that he means it. He holds Charlie's hand at Fred's funeral. He makes meals on the days that his mother doesn't feel up to it. He doesn't know quite what to do but he knows he needs to do something. But he misses Oliver and Audrey and knows why they shouldn't be there with him at this moment but he just wants them there. He thinks to himself that there are bridges that need to be mended between them as well.
When they're all ready they all end up at Audrey's flat. For the first time in a long time there's nothing but happiness between all three of them. They each crack open a firewhiskey, for once in celebration rather than as a tool to drown out the silence. They all have scars of various sizes, but it's easy to forget about them when they're together. Percy talks about the headway he's making get back into his family's good graces. Audrey tells them that she's back to regular correspondence with her family, and that she thinks this time they can find common ground. Oliver talks about Quidditch and how they have to come to next game because "it's an exhibition match to celebrate the death of You-Know-Who! It'll just be a massive party!"
And Audrey takes out her camera, because it's been awhile, and she holds it up to take a picture. She's documented all the huge moments in their lives, and she thinks their survival over the past few years is worth celebrating. They smile huge smiles and through the picture you can see true, unadulterated joy that radiates off them. It's Percy that takes the photo, his face almost far too close to the camera. Oliver is on the far end, trying his best to not get cut out of the frame. And Audrey sits where she's most comfortable, in-between her two closest friends, smiling the largest.
And they fall asleep like that on the couch. Oliver leans away from Audrey, though their legs are partially entwined. Percy leans towards her, his arm fully wrapping around her shoulder. Audrey leans into Percy, her head tucked into his chest, one of her hands holding Oliver's. It's not a comfortable or particularly restful sleep, but they're all so happy to be together again.
"Oliver left while you were in the shower. Said it was an important team thing."
"Really? Well, I'll see him soon anyways. Bastard should have said goodbye at least. It doesn't matter anyways."
"I actually think he left so we could talk."
"Percy, what could he possibly think we should be talking about?"
"He asked me a little while back what was going on between us. I've never forgotten that."
"Perce…"
"I know I'm the one who keeps beating around the bush on the subject but we can't keep being silent about it."
"I don't know what to say."
"Me neither, but we need to say something about it."
"…"
"Isn't there anything you want to say?"
"Do you love me?"
"What?!"
"Do you love me?"
"Of course I love you, Aud. I don't know why you have to ask that."
"You know what I mean."
"Audrey…"
"Did it mean anything to you? All those times we, you know…"
"Of course they did."
"But did they mean anything beyond making you not numb."
"Of course they did."
"Why?"
"Because I love you."
"What?!"
"It took me awhile to figure out exactly how I love you, but you're not just my friend. I love you. I love you, Audrey."
"Perce…"
"Audrey…"
"I love you too. Have for years, I reckon."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I couldn't say anything because I didn't think it would be the same for you, and then there's Oliver to think about…"
"Honestly, I think Ollie would be happy to know we were in love."
"I think you're right there."
"Hey, Audrey?"
"Yeah, Percy?"
"I'm going to kiss you now, okay?"
And Audrey nods and Percy kisses her. And the feelings that were almost there became connected and both of them are far happier than either of them had been in a long time.
Her family sends love and congratulations when Audrey owls them and tells them that her long-time best friend is now her very serious boyfriend. If they had started dating last year, or even straight out of Hogwarts, she probably wouldn't have told them. She would have left them out of the loop of her life until the last possible moment. But she wants them to know that she has a boyfriend who's treating her right and loves her with every fibre of his being. Her mother sends her a letter asking if it's serious enough for the two of them to get married, and Audrey doesn't reply to that one but she smiles when she reads it.
Molly is overjoyed when Percy brings Audrey to Sunday dinner at the Burrow. Even though her third eldest has spent so much time away from home, she's thrilled that someone has been there by his side the entire them. Had this been a few years earlier, before the fight that took Percy from her, Molly would have been more judgemental of the auburn-haired girl sitting next to her son. But it's hard to be critical of someone who has done nothing but love her son. And Percy is thrilled by his family's reaction. George and Ron and Ginny all recognize her, and Charlie remembers her name and asks if she still plays Quidditch. Percy acts as a referee as the family goes out to play. Percy feels very sure that he's found in his best friend someone he can spend forever with.
Oliver cries when they tell him they're dating. He had had a feeling that this was going to happen and he couldn't be happier. He can see it in the way Percy and Audrey look at each other that this is real and that they bring so much joy to each other. And Percy throws his arm around Oliver and it's "don't think we're leaving you behind, mate. You're always going to be there. Always." And Oliver laughs and knows that it's true, has been for the last ten years. His friends aren't going anywhere, they're just more together then they were before. And anyways, all he had ever wanted for them was all the happiness in the world, so they've already given him the greatest gift. And, while Oliver still has tears in his eyes, Audrey takes out her camera and takes a picture.
Percy and Audrey get married a year later. They already know that this is real, so real, so why wait any longer? They're more or less leaving together already (though it's a constant shuffle of who's flat they're going to that night) and there's just no reason to put it off any more. Audrey revels in shopping for decorations and dresses, and Percy stays up for days at a time planning out seating arrangements and figuring out all the logistics. Oliver participates in both, trying to make sure both of them stay sane.
Audrey has five sisters, so with Ginny it will be six standing on her side. Her youngest sister, Audrey decides, will be the maid of honour because she was always closest to her. For Percy it's a bit more difficult. He has four brothers, so adding Oliver to be the fifth is a logical choice (Harry stands as the sixth because he's family too now, always had been). But he's torn for a while over best man. He thinks it ought to be Charlie or George because he's always been closest to them, but it almost doesn't feel right. So he thinks and ponders and thinks and eventually decides that Oliver, who has steadfastly stayed by his side through everything, is the best choice. Oliver cries when Percy asks him.
And its Percy who eventually stands as Oliver's best man when the dark-haired man gets married as well. The bride is a pretty blonde witch who makes Oliver laugh until he cries. She has two sisters who stand next to her. Oliver gets Percy and Audrey, with Percy standing right by his side. And all three of them (four, including the bride) cry with joy throughout the entire affair. Lots of photos are taken at both weddings. Almost all of them have the three of them side by side, smiling wide smiles.
Percy is tall, the tallest in his family. He has bright red hair and a cautious smile. He has five brothers (and with Harry it's still five, even after Fred's gone) and a little sister. He is serious and to the point, and everything he owns is organized. He doesn't show his feelings often enough.
Oliver is tall too, but shorter than Percy. He has dark brown hair and an infectious smile. He has no siblings, but he has two parents who love him enough for several families. He is fun-loving and outgoing, the exact opposite of Percy. He's a mess and everything is about Quidditch and having fun and everyone being happy. He wears his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see.
Audrey, in every aspect than height (she's the shortest, by far), stays in a familiar familial in-between. Her hair is auburn, darker than Percy's and lighter than Oliver's. She has fewer siblings than Percy and obviously more than Oliver. She's not as serious as Percy, but she's soberer than Oliver. She's athletic where Percy is studious, studious where Oliver is athletic. She shows her emotions just enough.
Molly Weasley is born a year and a half after Percy and Audrey are married. She has darker hair than Percy but it's lighter than Audrey's. The baby has Audrey's blue eyes. She has Percy's sombre temperament. The two parents are overjoyed with their lovely baby; they have all the love in the world to give her.
Oliver, proud godfather, loves her to bits as well. He vows to teach her all the Quidditch knowledge he knows and hugs and kisses her as much has her parents. He tells Percy that he won't let his daughter become a stick-in-the-mud like he is, and Percy laughs.
Audrey takes a lot of photos of the baby, even on those first few precious days. There's the baby in Percy's arms, in Audrey's. Being cooed at by Grandmother Molly, held stiffly by her father. There's Oliver and his wife ecstatically looking at her, obviously anticipating the day when they can have their own bundle of joy.
But Audrey's favourite picture is of the three of them, her and Percy and Oliver. She's in the hospital bed, only having just given birth, and Percy's on one side of her, Oliver on the other. They both have their arms around her. She's holding little baby Molly in her arms. They smile wide like they do in so many other photos.
And Audrey is happy. And Percy is happy. And Oliver is happy.
Because, from beginning to end, it's them.