i tolerated you (but now i can't live without you)
A/N: Written with love for the lovely Lily, for her seventeenth birthday. ILY & thx for nearly four years of friendship, number one :3 I hope there are many, many, more years to come!
Also much love to the wife for beta-ing this. :3 Love you forever and always. The other prompts are located at the bottom of the fic.
WC- 2,291
i. first year aversion;
'I should've gone to Hufflepuff,' were the first words that Oliver had first thought when he met Percy.
When Oliver Wood had first came across Percy Weasley, it had been at the feast after their sorting. On the train he had made friends with a couple boys in his year, all of whom had gone in Hufflepuff.
Oliver himself was sorted into Gryffindor, a house that he had always aspired to be in. He'd been - and in a way was - ecstatic.
He'd talked to a couple of girls in his year, but what had dejected him was that the only boy in his year was basically a swot.
He'd shrugged off all of Oliver's attempts to talk to him, and dismissed Quidditch as 'a silly sport.'
All he ever did was read bloody books. Oliver tried to enjoy the fact that he was going to study at Hogwarts and eventually fulfill his dreams of being on the Quidditch team, but it was marred by the fact that he was going to share a room with Percy Weasley for seven years.
Joy.
ii. second year annoyances;
During his second year, Oliver was excited. He had a purpose. He was going to try out as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team under Charlie Weasley, something he had always wanted to do. Honestly, Oliver had no idea how Charlie and Percy were even related. They were so different. He wished dearly that Charlie was the one in his year.
The Keeper spot was open since the other one had graduated last year.
Of course, his roommate didn't really care. As he was humming a happy tune in the shower on tryouts morning, Percy had just yelled at him to be quiet so he could study.
For what? They didn't have any tests today. Or anytime soon, really.
His mood had been ruined by that, and once he was dressed, he'd slammed the door to the bathroom and glared at Percy angrily.
"This is something I've wanted to do my entire life," he hissed. "I'd appreciate it if you'd at least not be so rude about it."
Percy looked up from his book and at Oliver. "What should I say? Good luck?" he raised an eyebrow. "Quidditch's a dangerous sport, many died from it. It's fun to watch, but -"
"Forget it," Oliver snarled, leaving the dormitories and entering the common room.
"Good luck today, Ollie!" called a voice. He turned around to find Felicity, a girl in his year that he occasionally talked to.
Well, at least someone cared.
iii. third year troubles;
Oliver Wood had known that his roommate was a masochist ever since he had met him two years ago, but now he really knew.
Last year, when they were choosing their electives, Oliver had asked Percy what courses he was taking.
Percy had replied, without skipping a beat, "Everything, of course."
"You can't take everything!" Oliver had protested, "There's literally not that many hours in a day for that."
Percy had merely looked up from his book and at Oliver and raised an eyebrow, as if to say try me. Oliver merely shook his head, if he wanted to go crazy, he'd let him.
So there they were in third year. And Oliver was plain confused. Felicity, his friend and crush, had Ancient Runes. He had Divination with a couple of other friends at the same time.
And his roommate had them both. Oliver had never been good at math, but even he knew there was definitely something off about that. You can't be in two places at once. Then, he always walked around as if he'd got a total of one hour of sleep.
"Um… are you okay?" Oliver asked Percy one day, in the early morning during breakfast hour.
"Of course I am," said Percy, as if the question were ridiculous. "Why ask?"
Oliver hesitated. "It, uh, looks like you never sleep. And how can you be in two places at once?"
Percy looked at Oliver as if he were insane. "Two places at once?" he demanded, "Where would you even get that idea?"
"Your schedule," pointed out Oliver, raising an eyebrow. "You can't have Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at nine in the morning."
Percy scoffed. "You're probably hallucinating. Besides, Wood, why does it even matter so much to you what I take and when I take it?"
"I was just…" Oliver backed off at the look the other boy was giving him. "It - it doesn't. I'll just leave you to killing yourself then."
Oliver could literally feel Percy glaring at him as he walked away, and all it did was bring a smirk on his face.
iv. fourth year crushes;
Charlie Weasley had graduated last year, leaving the Captain spot to be taken by a seventh year called Josh Wolfe, who'd Chased for Gryffindor for as long as Oliver had been in Hogwarts.
Oliver was also now dating Felicity Evergreen, finally.
"Have you ever liked anyone?" Oliver asked his roommate curiously on a cold winter night. He was reading the Daily Prophet, while Percy was reading his Transfiguration textbook, studying away.
"There are far more important things than silly relationships," was the reply.
"Well in that case, why are you always looking at Penelope Clearwater?" Oliver smirked as Percy's face reddened.
"Well, that's completely different," he argued.
"Is it?" asked Oliver, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes!" insisted Percy. "It's certainly different from the really appalling exhibitionist manner you and Evergreen go into."
"You're just jealous of us," smirked Oliver.
"As if I'd ever be jealous of that relationship," he scoffed, not even bothering to look up from his Transfiguration textbook.
Oliver couldn't help but notice Percy's face hadn't lost its blush. He didn't know why, but it made him blush too.
v. fifth year teasing;
Percy was a Prefect. Oliver was the Quidditch Captain. And naturally, they annoyed each other because of that. November the fourth of 1991 was no exception.
"Will you stop talking to yourself!" growled Percy, grinding his teeth in frustration and slamming his book down in frustration.
"Talking to myself!" exclaimed Oliver, equally as furious. "It's the first Quidditch game tomorrow! I'm strategizing. Harry's on our team, there's no stopping us from winning. Besides, it's Friday night! What the bloody hell are you studying, anyways?"
Oliver peered at the book Percy was holding and his eyebrows reached his hairline when he realized exactly what the title was.
"How to talk to girls without making a fool of yourself?" read Oliver, chortling heartily.
"Don't make me take points off our own house," said Percy, his teeth gritted, his eyes darting to his chest, which held his Prefects badge in all his glory. He literally never took the badge off, even when he switched outfits.
"Who's the girl?" pressed Oliver curiously. "You know, I can help. I'm still happily together with Felicity."
"Just go back to your Quidditch thing. I do want us to win, after all."
"Don't worry," smirked Oliver, "We will. But seriously. Who's the girl? I bet it's Clearwater, as usual."
"5 points from Gryffindor for irritating me."
"Is that even allowed, Weasley?"
"I don't know. But I just did it."
vi. sixth year revelations;
"Felicity, why?" asked Oliver. He was too distraught for words at the sight of his girlfriend - now ex-girlfriend - pulling away from a Ravenclaw boy. As soon as the boy saw Oliver, he had immediately bolted away, leaving Felicity just standing there.
"Oliver, I love you and I can explain," begged Felicity. "He was on top of me! I couldn't for the life of me get him off."
"Don't even try that, Evergreen," said Oliver, his voice harsh. She flinched at the use of her last name. "It was clear that both of you were engaged in making out with each other."
Felicity's eyes widened, like she knew she was backed into a corner that wasn't exactly an easy one to back out of. Then her blue eyes narrowed. "What if I wanted a new boyfriend?" she demanded. "My current one was too obsessed with Quidditch to notice everything else. His surroundings. I've cheated you on six months and you haven't noticed. You're like the athletic version of Weasley. All you care about is Quidditch!" she finished off harshly. He fumed at Felicity's snide comparison of him to Percy.
"Why didn't you ever tell me how you felt?" asked Oliver, more gently.
"I did!" exclaimed Felicity, "Several times, and you said that you would change but you never did! What was I supposed to do? I wanted love and attention, so I met someone that gave me both."
"So you thought cheating on me was a good idea rather than just telling me you were done?" asked Oliver in disbelief.
Felicity bit her lip. "Well, I was going to tell you, but… you're a really good kisser, and -"
"So, you kept me just to indulge your physical desires? Not only is this cruel to me, but it's cruel to your other lover too," he snapped harshly. "I'm done with you, Felicity. Now and forever."
"Fine, leave," spat Felicity. "See if I care."
And Oliver did just that. He trudged up to Gryffindor tower and up the stairs to his dormitory, where he was face to face with a really happy Percy Weasley.
"If you're going to talk about how great your date with Penelope went, please spare me," sighed Oliver, flopping on his bed.
Percy frowned a little, looking at Oliver. "Did something happen with Felicity?" he asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes," said Oliver, his voice controlled. "The bitch was cheating on me. For six months."
Percy placed his book aside, his eyebrows reaching his hairline. "Six months?" he repeated, in horror.
Oliver nodded ruefully. "Six months. But I mean," he sighed, "I'm happy for you and Penelope, don't let me ruin anything."
Neither boy said anything after that, but the next day Percy Weasley had done something that Oliver Wood had never, ever, thought he would ever do.
He had pranked Felicity Evergreen without getting caught, and she had ended up walking around school with orange hair for a week. Oliver wondered why Percy would even do such a thing, but it made his heart warm all the same.
vii. seventh year realizations;
Oliver Wood was determined to accomplish one thing in his seventh and final year of Hogwarts; win the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor.
On the other hand, Percy Weasley was determined to score seven O's for his NEWTs. Anything below that would be unacceptable.
And therefore, the two of them tossed their tentative and budding friendship aside in order to achieve their respective end-of-year-goals. Percy literally spent every waking moment studying for N.E. (even if it was September), while Oliver was determined to make sure nothing went wrong with his beloved Quidditch strategy, going back to their early Hogwarts-years routines of being pissed off at each other.
That was, until the twenty-seventh of March, when Penelope Clearwater had decided that she was going to end things with his boyfriend.
"It was just, all of a sudden," mused a distraught Percy as he and Oliver sat on opposite sides of their dormitory. "She just said 'it's not you, it's me' and said she didn't want a relationship."
"Girls are… fickle," said Oliver, remembering the whole situation with Felicity. "Very fickle. We guys have to stick together. We shouldn't let them get in the way of achieving what we want to achieve."
Percy nodded at that. "That we do. I'll be damned if this breakup keeps me from getting the scores I want."
"And I'll be damned if anything keeps me from winning the Quidditch Cup. If I manage that, I'll be so happy. So happy that I could kiss you," he added with a suggestive wink.
"You're disgusting," said Percy bluntly, though the blush on his face was saying otherwise.
Oliver had no idea what had gotten into him, but he decided that if - no, when, Gryffindor won the House Cup, he promised himself that was going to go straight up to Percy and kiss him. Just for good fun.
And Gryffindor did win the House Cup. And Oliver held his promise and ran straight to the stands and kissed a completely shocked Percy full on the lips.
If Oliver wasn't kissing Percy, he'd have smirked, because Percy kissed back.
viii. post-hogwarts banter;
"A reserve opportunity for Puddlemere United?" asked Percy, taking a bite of pudding.
The two old friends - now the two lovers - were sitting in a booth at the Leaky Cauldron.
Oliver nodded excitedly. "A letter was delivered by owl yesterday," he gushed.
"That's great," said Percy, offering Oliver a smile. "I'm really happy for you."
"And what about you?" smirked Oliver, raising an eyebrow and leaning over to squeeze Percy's hand. "Junior Assistant to the Minister just as soon as we graduate from Hogwarts. I'm impressed."
"I was honestly extremely honored to get the job," said Percy, nodding. "Though I'm worried that my family won't particularly like the job I've secured for myself."
"But they'd want you to be happy, right?" asked Oliver. "If you're happy with the job, then does it really matter what anyone thinks?"
Percy considered Oliver's words for a moment, before nodding. "You're right," he finally said, confidently. "This has been something I've wanted for ages.
"I'm always right, aren't I?" Oliver grinned, before he leaned over to kiss Percy.
(Their desire to achieve what they wanted in life is what brought them together, but it is also what tore them apart. But in the end, they will both look back upon these eight memories, and find one another again.)
Also for -
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Assignment # 7 - Divination Task 1 - write a story where the number eight is important.
April Monthly House Challenge - (character) Percy Weasley
HPFC 2018 Eurovision Song Contest - representing Armenia with the word prompt of memories:)
Shay's Epic Board Game Challenge - Civilization / Advanced Civilization- write a fic over 2k.
Insane House Challenge - (food) Pudding
365 Prompts Challenge - 245. (restriction) Characters from only one era
Writing Club:
Character Appreciation - 23. Oliver Wood
Amber's Attic - 7. But whatever, however, whenever, this ends, I want you to know that, right now, I love you forever.
Showtime - 14. Summer Sequence - write a fic involving time-skips.
Lyric Alley - What if there's no stoppin' us yet?
Hope you enjoyed this love!:3
Please R&R:)
-Ana