Next instalment in this series and am very glad it seems to be going down well with a lot of you. This is perhaps more humorous and upbeat than my Gravity Of Love marathon story and my others but perhaps a change of pace is needed from all the doom and gloom so far. Plus, raunchy mixed with laughter isn't a bad combination to begin with. Just a word of warning that from here on out the sex and nudity factors will get raised a fair bit, as too is Percy's...eh...apprehension of being around a certain Quidditch Keeper.
PART 3 - NAKED AMBITIONS
Percy blinked. Then screwed his eyes shut before snapping them open again. Even rubbing both sockets with clammy palms of his hands didn't seem to do the trick.
Oliver's standing at my front door. With a broomstick behind his back. And FOUR suitcases next to him that looked loaded with all that he owns.
Oliver tilted his head to the side, eyeing Percy with what the redhead could only described as an injured deer in need of help. Having big brown eyes from something out of a Disney muggle film helped along in that description as well, not to mention how Wood was now shuffling his feet a little as he tried to look anywhere else but in his eye line. Funny that looking that cute would ordinarily had got Wood exactly what he wanted back when they were in school.
Right now though all it did was make Percy want to throttle him from London to the arse end of bloody China.
" What are you doing here ?"
Yeah. Real smooth entry there Percy.
Oliver however seemed to ignore his nervousness, smiling and looking at Percy with that same lost lamb expression. " I'm actually in a bit of a pickle mate. If you'd let me in I'll explain it all in full."
Percy hesitated. He knew that it was rude to leave someone out in the hallway after they had come here obviously in a time of need by the looks of it. Ordinarily Percy wouldn't even dream of doing such a thing. But this was no ordinary day and nor was the man standing in his hall in dire need of help. He had money. He had family. Wood bloody well had everything to help himself out if he was in trouble and needed somewhere to get his shit sorted out. And yet here Percy saw himself, torn between telling his one time roommate to go away or maybe, just maybe, wishing he would stay.
Damn those brown eyes. Always were a weakness of mine.
" Come on in. I'll pour the scotch."
--------
" So basically you can't go back to your apartment for three weeks because ?"
" Cornish Pixie infestation in my roof. Whole gaggle of them decided that my draft riddled flat in lower end of Glasgow was a great place to set up shop and raise a family."
" And when will the cleaning crew be finished with the decontamination ?"
Oliver shrugged, throwing himself rather roughly into one of Percy's lounge chairs and scooping up the glass of scotch on the rocks his host had placed on the coffee table in front of him. " Depends. They say it'll take about three days to actually locate where all their nests are hidden, then a couple more after that to decontaminate the area and make my place fit for wizard habitation again."
Percy nodded, taking a seat on the same lounge as Oliver but making sure there was ample space between them and trying to ignore the fact that despite this he could swear there was immense source of heat radiating between them.
" So all up how much time will it take until you can move in ?"
" Two to three weeks. At the earliest."
Two to three weeks. About the same amount of time he's on...oh no...
Oliver raised an eyebrow, smirking as he took a sip from his glass.
" Which leads me to the main reason why I'm here with all my meagre possessions and broomstick in hand. I need a..."
" No. Absolutely not ! It's positively out of the question Wood !"
Oliver tilted his head to the side, eyeing Percy with mild amusement. Percy hated how Wood was the only one who could make confidence and cockiness so easily intertwined in one gesture. It made it harder to be pissed off at the proceedings.
" And why can't I stay here ? Penelope's away and I'm sure there's room in..."
Percy gaped at him, stunned and nearly dropped his glass of scotch.
" How do you know Penelope's away ?"
" She told me her plans a day before she left, thought it would be useful information to know that her flatmate Percy would be all by himself for a whole week with no one else to keep him company. I can't imagine why though."
Percy was an inch away from literally punching that smug look right of the other lad's face at this rate. Jackass. Of all the times...
" What about your parents ?"
" Tried ringing them on the muggle phone but got their answering machine, telling me they were out. And before you ask I do not have a key to get in their place anyway. Seems they think once I was out the door at eighteen they wanted to keep it that way."
Gee, I wonder why that would be Oliver ?
" What about your team mates at Puddlemere ?"
Oliver snorted. " I've already roomed with that lot for three months on the road Weasley. I refuse to shack up with loud mouthed, binge drinking jocks who shag way too much for their own good for another three weeks."
" Funny, I thought you would be right at home then."
" Percy Weasley cracks a joke ! My, my, my. Maybe your not so stuck up as I remember from school. Seriously though. After three months with that lot trust me, even someone like me would have his patience wear thin."
Percy frowned as he slouched back into the lounge, downing the rest of his scotch in one large gulp and trying in vain not to look anywhere where Oliver was. Which was hard as said person began to tap the side of his sneaker against his own and still having that frustratingly cute doe eyed look going on.
" Well what about a hotel in London ?"
" Can't sleep properly in a bed that ain't my own or in a strange place for more than one night."
" If that's bloody true then how did you survive on the road for three months with your ruddy ream ?"
" A heck of a lot of sleeping pills and large pints of warm milk. Now if you excuse me I'm going to show myself to the spare room."
Percy's eyes shot out of his head as he watched Wood get up from the lounge, retrieving his wand from an inner coat pocket and flipping it in the direction of his bags and broomstick. " Oliver Wood ! What are you bloody doing ?!"
Oliver smirked, downing the rest of his scotch and slamming the glass a bit to hard down back on the table. " Showing myself to the guest room Percy. Although I must say I am ashamed of your lack of good host man-ship. I mean, even I would..."
" You do not have the right ! You cannot just barge in here and make yourself at home like some..."
" Like a mate who needs a place to stay at such short notice yet is finding his only true friend from his school days too flustered to show proper hospitality."
Percy rolled his eyes, standing up and instead of punching Oliver's lights out, which he was so itching to do, walked past the burly brunette and followed the line of suitcases that were floating down the hallway. " Come along then."
Oliver followed close behind a second later. Now walking side by side down the hallway Percy could see Oliver's triumphant smirk and kept his head to the front and centre for the rest of the way. It would be a bad case of being a hospitable host if he were to suddenly spin himself round and punch Oliver so hard he'd smash his head into the plaster board walling behind him. Instead Percy kept quiet and stopped curtly at the doorway situated right across from his own, the floating suitcases and broomstick stopping mid hover when he did so.
" Here is is. See you in the morning."
Percy spun on his heel, intent on making a point of going straight to his room and slamming the door hard in Oliver Wood's face. But was stopped by the calloused hand that latched onto his shoulder held him on the spot. Looking up Percy saw those dewy brown orbs looking right into his blue ones and cursed when he felt the last of his anger subside at their showing. The heat scorching through the fabric of his clothes and onto his freckled skin wasn't helping matters either come to think of it.
" Sorry for being pushy about this Perce. But truly, honest to the gods, I've got nowhere else to go right now and I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't a last resort and it's just that...well, I'm always so sure that..."
" Oliver ? "
The Keeper smiled just a little as he gazed at the redhead. Percy became intensely aware of Oliver's thumb slowly rubbing small circles into his shoulder blade.
" It's just that I can always rely on you to help me through the tough times."
Percy smiled back, chuckling.
" We had enough practice with that at Hogwarts didn't we ?"
" Yeah. It made it quite convenient to avoid getting House points docked for bad behaviour when you were best mates with the Prefect and Head Boy of your year."
" I'd imagine," Percy said, still smiling and not making a move to get away from Oliver or his constant thumb rubbing. " But I guess it doesn't matter if you stay tonight. Just hope you can make yourself at home enough to get a good night's sleep."
" I'm sure I can manage. And thanks for letting me through your door in the first place."
Percy nodded and turned to go to his own room and his own bed, making a potent point of not turning his head even the slight bit around as he did. Oliver's gaze was burning into his back and for some reason he was sure that gaze had some kind of hidden motive behind it than sizing up a long less seen best mate.
" And Perce ?"
Percy stopped at halfway through his doorway, already nearly into his room when Wood spoke. " Yes Oliver ?"
" It's great to see you again. It's really...nice."
Percy chuckled but found himself nodding in turn. Seems all he could do was chuckle and laugh when around Oliver Wood.
" Likewise. Goodnight Oliver Wood."
" Goodnight Percy Weasley."
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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
SLAM !
Bloody alarm clock !
Wiping the sleep from his eyes Percy slowly hauled himself out of his warm cocoon and tepidly stepped up slowly onto the floor, stretching his arms and trying in vain to get his body to move on such short notice. Despite popular opinion he was indeed a late sleeper and hated being woken up earlier than necessary, but today was not like any other day in his normal scheduled planning.
Today's my day off so I have to get cracking, otherwise Oliver will find an excuse to stay here for two or three weeks and I will not tolerate it ! So I better stop standing here stretching with nothing but my boxer shorts on and get moving.
Grabbing his red bathrobe from the back hook of his door Percy slowly shuffled out of his room and down towards the noises coming from his kitchen. Seemed like Oliver was up already and by the sounds of dishes clinking and butter sizzling he was starting to make breakfast.
Wonder why he's doing up so early ? Never used to be an early riser in school except for when it was Quidditch season and a practice day. But then again it could be because he's...WHAT THE FUCK !
Percy caught a glimpse through the crack of the door of the spare room Oliver had taken possession of and stopped dead, stunned, then promptly kicked it open to gape at what was beheld to him as he stood there, arms braced against the door frame and trying to not to freak out, grab his wand and go hex the living daylights out of Wood in the kitchen.
The spare bed had somehow morphed into a king size with a racing broom theme bed spread. The walls meanwhile were covered every square inch in Quidditch player posters, team ranking sheets and what suspiciously appeared to be a large blown up picture of Oliver and the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the House Cup they had won from Slytherin in their seventh year. For all intents and purposes the room looked like it was truly Oliver Wood's own. Which would mean he was expecting to...
Like hell he will !! He is going to be chucked out on his ear for this !! When will I ever bloody learn !
" OLIVER WOOD !"
Gritting his teeth and nostrils flaring Percy stormed down the hall and a beeline straight to the kitchen. He was going to show Wood who was boss damn it ! He was going to learn that there were some things you just did not do when in another person's house and imposing on them at a bloody short notice. There was repercussions and reactions to things that were happening and they had to be felt and fully dealt with.
Which is why upon turning the corner and seeing Oliver Wood clad in the most snug pair of white bikini briefs and leaning against his kitchen stove with his arms folded across his chest he lost all sense of direction and promptly fell flat on his arse.
" Always this eloquent when greeting your guests Percy ?"
Bastard.
" Always this near naked first thing in the morning Wood ?"
" You should know. After all, rooming with me at school for several years would make you the expert."
Shaking his head Percy hauled himself to his feet before taking a a seat on one of the bar stools behind the bar table that divided the kitchen area from the main living room. Try as he might the red head could not divert his eyes from those tighter than tight briefs as Wood began wondering around the kitchen, placing two plates and glasses on the small island in the centre of the small area.
His arse certainly has gained more roundness and hardness than last time I saw it back at school. Firm and nice and round and bet you could flip a coin off of...
Wait...Why am I focusing on Oliver Wood's cotton clad arse ?! Bloody Hell !
" Are you all right there mate ?"
Percy shook his head as he turned towards the sound of Wood's voice which, much to his horror, made him realised the near naked bronzed stud was taking residence in the seat right next to his own. He smiled and accepted the plate with the fried eggs and bacon, noting that Wood had taken time to cut off all the fat and that there seemed to be no trace of butter or oil with the eggs. A glass of freshly squeezed juice was placed at the side of his plate and two pieces of wholemeal toast with jam and no butter. Percy thanked him with a smile and tried hard to ignore the heat of the blush forming on his cheeks when Oliver smiled back in turn before turning back to his own breakfast, sipping a bit of his own juice as he began flipping through a magazine he had placed between the two of them.
" These are really nice eggs Oliver. Bacon's good too."
" Yeah. And pretty much clean of any added fats and calories with the way I cooked them too. Glad to see you like it."
Percy nodded, reaching over to take his juice for a drink but stopped dead when he saw the magazine Oliver was flipping through.
" Oliver ?"
" Hmm ?"
" Why are you looking through that bloody Playwitch magazine ? I threw it out in the bin yesterday."
" And I found it when I came into the kitchen to cook breakfast this morning and decided to flick through and see what kind of publication it was I posed for and besides, with such a handsome devil beckoning to me on the cover how could I resist ?"
Percy stared at him. " You really are totally in love with yourself aren't you ?"
Oliver snorted. " Don't be ridiculous Percy ! Of coarse I'm not."
Percy sighed with relief and turned back to his breakfast. " That's good, because for a moment there I thought you'd be..."
" My first love will always be Quidditch and my broomstick."
" Really ?"
" If it were legally possible I'd marry my broom and Quaffle in an instant. You could be my best man if you'd like."
Percy smiled and shook his head, turning his attention back to finishing his breakfast and heading to get the first shower so Oliver would not get there first and waste all the hot water.
" I'm coming up to my centrefold shoot and interview. Want me to leave it open for you ?"
Percy snorted. " No thank you. I've already copped an eyeful of you this morning and right now with you sitting right next to me here. That's enough for one day I wager."
Oliver shrugged. " Fair enough. All in good time.""
Percy looked up from his plate and frowned at Oliver. " All in good time for what Oliver ?"
The Keeper smirked around his fork as he finished off the last of his food before quickly shoving off the stool and walking his dishes and empty glass over to Percy's dishwasher. Percy remained determined not to look over at the process because he remembered you had to bend right over to put the dishes in sometimes and well, a bent over view of Oliver Wood's curved arse muscles would liable to send him choking to death on the last remaining morsel of his egg. So he waited until the slamming of the washer's door was heard before looking up, seeing Wood smirking over the magazine as he leaned against the bench overhanging it, reading intently the contents of the page he was on.
Great. I've got a winking bare chested Oliver looking at me and a full on view of the bulge in front of the real life Oliver leaning against my kitchenette. Lord I hope those are a new pair of briefs he's wearing.
A loud slap of a magazine being thrown in front him snapped the dazed Weasley's senses into overdrive, his blue eyes darting up to see Oliver standing in front of him on the other side of the bar with an amused look in his eyes.
" I don' know about you Weasley but I'm going to spend the day outside for a change. Interested ?"
As long as your wearing more than what you are know I'm sure it'll be fine.
" What did you have in mind Wood ?"
" Not too sure," the brunette shrugged." Haven't been in London in two months so maybe go to Diagon and see what's changed there, maybe go see my agent as well while I'm at it. If you come with we can grab something for lunch afterwards at The Three Broomsticks. Sounds good ?"
" Sounds fine."
Oliver smiled and smacked in on his back hard as he walked passed him on the way down to the hallway. " Smashing ! I'll just grab a quick shower and shave and we'll be off !"
Percy frowned. " I think I should have first shower Wood ?"
" And why is that so my dear Weasley ?"
" Because you have a bad habit of draining all the hot water before anyone else gets the chance to use it. Remember how you Quidditch team complained after you were the first to use the showers after a match ? Not to mention all the times I went to use the Prefect's bathroom in our sixth and seventh year and find that the hot water system there was running on nothing but cold ?"
Oliver chuckled, one hand absently reaching down to give his crotch a good old scratch and adjustment before smiling impishly at the blushing red head in front of him. " We could always save the debate and just shower together if you'd like."
Percy cursed himself when he felt the blush gain more strenuous heat and turned his gaze back down onto the table, then cursed louder when he saw the Photo Oliver on the magazine cover grab his rather full basket in front of his breeches and giving it a good old groping and tug, grinning like an idiot and blowing him air kisses for good measure.
Two sided attack ! This is bloody unfair !
" No thanks. I rather like taking my shower's alone. You go ahead."
" You sure you don't want to come ?"
" Rather desperately actually." He muttered, making Oliver tilt his head to the side and eye the red head curiously.
" Okay then, but your missing out on a golden opportunity for me to introduce you to the joys of my great shower philosophy."
" I'm sure I'll survive Wood. Just get it over with and call me when you're done with the place. Towels are in the hallway cupboard and new bottle of body wash is under the sink."
Oliver grinned and turned to make his way down the hall, Percy waiting until he heard the footsteps a fair way down before exhaling the long held breathe he didn't realise he'd held in that entire conversation.
This is not fair damn it ! He's acting just like he did in Hogwarts and I'm supposed to just let it happen ?! He's immature, flaunts himself way too much and has an ego the size of his di...
" Head's up Perce !"
Percy looked in the direction of Oliver's voice. " What.."
THWACK !!
"Ugh !! OLIVER !"
Ignoring the barks of laughter from the man halfway down the hallway and the feeling of grabbing his wand and hexing him to near oblivion Percy yanked the sweaty briefs from his face. This was the last straw ! It was one thing to be walked in on last night and another to take over the spare room and turn it into something from that muggle film Porky's, but to have a guys underwear thrown right at his face and howls of laughter following it...Someone had to pay damn it !
" Oliver Wood ! Get back here this instant !"
Oliver recovered long enough when he saw a clearly enraged Weasley barging down the hall and with a murderous gleam in his eye. Still grinning and chuckling the Quidditch star spun on his heel and bolted the rest of the way down, easily making it into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him. By the time Percy got there he was greeted with the finality of the locking mechanism clicking into place.
" Oliver ! Open this door at once !"
Percy heard the laughter from the other side of the door, then a second later the sound of water hitting the tiles of the shower cubicle and the hissing of hot water pumping through the pipe work. Groaning the redhead slumped against the opposite wall and slid down until his arse met the floorboards, his longs legs folding automatically underneath it before his face buried itself into his hands.
This is not a good start. Not a good start at all ! If it is anything like it was back at school this is going to be murder and...Funny, for a man with such a penchant for tanning Wood's arse sure was pale. Almost white even when compared to the rest of him...Shut up, Shut up, Shut up !!
Percy groaned and banged his head back against the wall behind him.
Welcome to my life, he thought. Now with added Oliver Wood.
TBC...