Well hello! Sorry for the extreme lateness, I've had various assignments that have been keeping me from writing. And just when so many people are getting interested! So here's the thanks list: Dr. Paranoia, werewolf666vampire, Jente Bidernais and of course Nikki Diamond. Thank you all for watching and/or reviewing! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
- Legs
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter whatsoever.
4. First In Line
When Percy woke up on the morning of the Hogsmeade visit, he was greeted by a very grumpy-looking Oliver Wood. Oliver was bedraggled and wet, and sat on the side of his bed wearing a scowl that could ward off a Dementor, and what appeared to be a pair of pink knickers, on his head.
As Percy got up, he could hear Oliver breathing in and out heavily and angrily, and so he decided to approach him and see if, for a change, he could do something to comfort him.
"What happened to you?"
Tactful, Percy. Just wonderful.
"Percy, don't try and speak to me at the moment. I have just been viciously assaulted by your brothers, and if I see any red hair right now, I'm going to kill someone. I turn up to Quidditch practise, as usual, and freaking King Harry thinks he can just come and go whenever he likes, and so he's not bloody there, is he? Ange, Alicia and Katie are there, but they're just gossiping, because someone's asked somebody else out, or some shit, I don't even fucking know! And so I'm waiting, and there are your brothers, theBASTARDS-"
Percy didn't bother listening to the rest of the rant. He knew how it went: Aguamenti accompanied by one of their very own specialities, Subvestamenti, or, as they called it, the "Bra Bomb".
What Percy was infinitely more concerned about was the fact that, despite being royally annoyed with her, Oliver had referred to Angelina as "Ange". What explanation could there possibly be for that, apart from that they were dating? Then again, Oliver called Percy "Perce", and they most certainly were not dating, but they were best friends. And Oliver had never been particularly close to Angelina, not until this year, anyway.
There was no other reason for it, Percy concluded. They were definitely a couple.
"... and so I bloody well cancelled practise, didn't I? I mean, what else could I do? The girls weren't bloody interested, and your brothers... I am going to KILL them, Percy! Kill them!"
"Oliver, as much as I agree with your sentiments towards the quarter of my immediate family that I am the most ashamed of, I don't think that killing them will prove very effective. At most, it would stop them for a week. Then they'd be back as ghosts, and vicious as ever."
At this, Oliver laughed. The murderous scowl immediately disappeared from his face, and he looked up at Percy, grinning. "Thanks, man. You really know how to make me happy."
Percy smiled back. "Any time, my friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go and smarten myself up for my date with Penny."
Oliver's face fell. "Already?"
"Sorry, Oliver. I... I slept in."
"Yeah, whatever. Just enjoy your date, I guess."
Once again utterly oblivious to Oliver's evident disappointment, Percy saluted Oliver as he flounced in the direction of the bathroom.
"Can, and will!"
When he came out of the bathroom, Oliver was gone, but he had left a little note for Percy, as usual.
"Got bored, heading to Hogsmeade. Probably won't see you there. Oliver."
Percy looked over the note again, and blinked. Was he reading correctly? Had Oliver signed it simply "Oliver"? Where was the customary "Love"? Oh Merlin, Percy thought to himself, he didn't sign love... which means he now must place a lot more importance on the word, not to throw it around like he always does... which means hehasto be in love... in love... in love with ANGELINA!
Percy gawked at the note, and at the obvious conclusion that he had drawn from it. He felt strangely jealous and angry. Didn't Oliver think that he was good enough for "Love" anymore now that he had a girlfriend? Percy's cheeks flushed, and he was veryclose to contemplating the reasons for this jealousy, when he remembered that he had a date to keep, and, hastily shoving Oliver's note under his bed with all the others, ran down to the Great Hall, where he was to meet Penelope.
She was waiting right where they had arranged to meet, at the door of the Hall. He smiled, cheerily but business-like, as he approached her. "Good day, Penny," Percy said, greeting his date with a slightly-too formal handshake. "How are you this fine morning?"
"Percy..." Penelope began with a laugh, "It's midday! It isn't the morning anymore!"
Looking at his (well, Bill's) watch, he noticed, shocked, that Penelope was right. They had arranged to meet at 11:30. For the first time in his life, Percy Weasley was late. And to top it all off, Penelope had actually waited for him. Despite being a little debilitated by his lateness, Percy was cheered up by the fact that Penelope cared enough about him to wait so long. Pulling himself back together, he said to Penelope "Well, then, I'd say we head out for some lunch, wouldn't you?"
Penelope smiled. "Of course!
Ever the gentleman, Percy offered her his arm, which she took gladly from him. They were both glad for their closeness; it was fast approaching winter, and there was a chilly wind blowing through the air as they made their way down to Hogsmeade.
Thankfully, it was a lot warmer in the Three Broomsticks. They had chosen the tavern mutually, mainly because Percy was too protective of his last dangling threads of a social reputation (and of course, too shy) to suggest that perhaps Madame Puddifoot's would be a better location, not for the initial purpose of the date, but perhaps for where Percy intended it to end up.
They chose a table near the corner. Well, Percy chose a table near the corner. Despite Penelope's assertions that Peter would be nowhere to be seen, he was still filled with the paranoia and neuroses that came ever so naturally to him. There was a small candle burning on the table that added to the warmth and the atmosphere, and as they sat down Percy ordered two butterbeers from Madame Rosmerta. Frankly, he'd never had much of a taste for alcohol, but Penelope seemed to love the stuff, and Percy would do anything, even down to paying for all her drinks as well as his, to get her thinking about what a great guy he was.
Unfortunately for these grand schemes, Percy was amazingly unskilled at small-talk. Still, he was a Gryffindor, so he tried to be as brave as he could when he opened his mouth and all that came out was "So... you like Ancient Runes?"
Penelope laughed. "Oh, Percy... it's a wonder you don't have more friends, what with icebreakers like that!"
Percy straightened up and sniffed. "Well, I'd like to see you do better!'
"It was just a joke, silly!" Penelope replied, giggling. She reached out and placed her hand briefly on Percy's arm, before pulling it away and leaving a red mark on his face. No, hold on, that was just a contact-induced blush.
"I see, well, you'll just have to forgive me. I've never been particularly good with jokes."
"I can tell."
There was an awkward silence between them, in which Penelope sipped contently on her butterbeer, and Percy forced himself to swallow a couple of mouthfuls.
After a while, Penelope spoke. "Percy?"
"Yes?"
"Can I call you 'Perce'?"
Percy considered this point for a moment. Only Oliver had ever called him 'Perce'; he'd drummed it into his family long ago that he was to be called Percy and only Percy. It was, after all, preferable to Percival. Then again, Percy had always been the odd one out in his family, and there were occasions when he felt much closer to Oliver to any of them. It wasn't like he let Oliver call him 'Perce', but he was planning on going a lot further than close friendship with Penelope. But on the other hand, Percy had always associated that particular shortening of his name with Oliver, and he wasn't at all sure that he wanted to start subconsciously associating his potential girlfriend with his best friend. And so he decided against it.
"No, I don't think so. I prefer 'Percy'."
Penelope smiled. "Alright, just checking. It's just, Oliver calls you that all the time..."
"Yes, well I honestly can't see how Oliver calling me something translates into me liking him calling me that," Percy replied defensively.
"No worries. I like 'Percy', anyway. It's a cute name."
Cute? CUTE? She thinks my name is CUTE? Percy thought furiously, is that even possible?
Evidently so, seeing as Penelope had just said so. Percy reflexively replied "Thank you, and so is yours."
"My name?"
"No, your nose," Percy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. She was being a bit slow.
He immediately regretted saying it, however, as she looked a little offended. "Sorry," Percy mumbled, "I don't tend to think before I speak..."
"You know, Percy," Penelope started, "when I didn't know you as well, I thought you were just cute, awkward and insecure, but now that I've gotten to know you a bit better, I've realised that you're actually a bit of a rude, insensitive bastard who doesn't know how to handle himself socially."
Percy was shocked. Wasn't it ironic, he thought, that she was going on about him being rude, being rude to him herself in the process. But Penelope wasn't done yet.
"However, I've also discovered just how funny you are, how intelligent and focused you are, and that I reckon if you spoke like you do to anyone but me, I'd probably laugh at them. Therefore, I have concluded that-" she paused for emphasis, "- that we head out of here and get to know each other a little better outside."
Percy reddened again. What was she insinuating, if anything? Oh, how he wished she was insinuating something incredibly dirty! But as they stood up, Percy realised that she had pretty much figured him out. Cute, probably not, but awkward and insecure? Definitely. And "rude, insensitive bastard" was basically spot on. Percy was the last person to admit it, but he could be a little insensitive at times. Or perhaps he was just passionate, and lacked a way with words. Whatever the case, Percy admired that after such a relatively short acquaintance she seemed to know so much about him, and so he gleefully followed her out of the Three Broomsticks, his mind inventing various different scenarios that might play out over the next few minutes. The vast majority of them involved snogging, and the rest couldn't possibly happen in the middle of Hogsmeade.
On their way out of the tavern, Percy noticed Oliver and Angelina sitting together, and alone, in a dark corner, not unlike to the one that he and Penelope had just left. They seemed to be whispering to each other. They almost looked like they were arguing; Angelina was talking quickly and aggressively to Oliver, and Oliver was sitting back, listening, but his mind seemed to be somewhere else.
"Coming, Percy?" Penelope called. He became aware that he had stopped, and so pulled his gaze away from Oliver and Angelina and headed towards the door behind Penelope.
When they got out onto the street, the change was evident. The cold wind was back, the sky was clouded over, and it was just beginning to drizzle. Percy couldn't help wishing that he was back in the tavern, but then he remembered that Oliver and Angelina were in there, and it was better to be cold but focused on Penelope outside than warm but distracted from the task at hand inside.
Percy and Penelope walked closely together down towards Zonko's, which Percy realised almost too late was a bad idea. He just knew that it would be home to every Weasley under the sun, aka Fred and George, the biggest banes of Percy's existence. So in the nick of time, he steered Penelope in the other direction, down a side-alley, and perhaps to somewhere more private.
However, this particular alley was empty, and so when they reached the end, Percy steered Penelope around and back to the main road. All the while she was giving him increasingly strange looks.
"What's with the detour?" she asked, smiling up at Percy.
He blushed; melting either from her smile, or from the embarrassment of his reason for the detour. "I, uh... I just really didn't want to bump into my brothers..."
Penelope laughed. "Don't you want them to know that you've made a new friend?"
"No, because I'm planning on making you in to much more than a friend, and I don't want to confirm everything until it's official, if you catch my drift,"was the real reason, but Percy's excuse was nothing but a bit of awkward blushing, followed by a lot of "um"ing and "ah"ing.
Penelope nodded as though she knew exactly what was running through Percy's mind at that moment in time. "I understand. So where do you want to go now?"
"I want to go make out in the corner of this alleyway, how about you?"
"Um... it's really up to you," Percy replied in a passable imitation of chivalry.
She thought for a minute, before deciding that they should go and have a chat back in the Three Broomsticks. She confessed to wishing that they hadn't left in the first place; it was so nice and warm in there.
When they got back in, Percy saw with some interest that Fred and George had joined Oliver and Angelina (which still didn't sound right) at the table in the corner, and he wished that he and Penelope had kept walking. Then again, if they went far away enough, they could get away with not being noticed.
As Penelope went up to the bar to order a couple of butterbeers, Percy took the opportunity to have a good perv at what the others were up to. Oliver and Angelina had stopped acting like a couple, and Angelina was talking as she usually did to the twins. Oliver seemed the odd one out. After all, they were all in fourth year but him, and he didn't look involved in whatever they were gossiping about, he was merely a spectator.
Oliver looked up briefly and caught Percy's eye, smiling. Percy smiled back, before he was nudged by Penelope, who, considerate of his wishes not to be seen by his brothers, led him to a table near the one they had been sitting at earlier.
Penelope started the conversation this time. "So, Percy, I've always wondered what you're planning on doing after Hogwarts. I mean, you're top of just about everything, so you could do anything..."
"I'm planning on working at the Ministry," Percy interrupted proudly, "just like my father. Well, not in the same department, you understand. That would feel a little odd. No, I'm planning on working directly for the Minister himself."
"How ambitious of you!"
Percy nodded, glad of Penelope's approval. "Yes, there's no doubt that it's ambitious, but you know me; willing to do almost anything to achieve my goals."
Penelope laughed. "And what sort of goals might these be?"
He blushed a little at this. "Why, getting into your pants, of course!" was the main goal in question, but Percy wasn't exactly going to let Penelope know that now, was he?
"Oh, you know, everyday, mundane sort of things… But how about you? What are you planning to do after Hogwarts?"
"Well," Penelope started, "when I was little, I always wanted to be a beautician like my mother. It's a Muggle thing, you know, where you do people's make-up and stuff like that. And, to tell you the truth, magic hasn't changed much. Except now I want to work for famous witches and wizards, and do their hair and make-up, and that sort of thing. Hobnobbing with society's elite!"
And she's inRavenclaw? Percy thought to himself, Aren't they supposed to be smart, or something?
"I'm sure that will be a very, um… interesting… career for you…"
xxx
Much later, they decided it was time to head back to Hogwarts. As he was about to climb through the Gryffindor portrait hole, Percy bade farewell to Penelope, who gave him a kiss on the cheek. He came out in a full-body blush as she walked away, much to the amusement of the Fat Lady.
When he got up to his dorm, Percy found only Oliver in there, listening to his Muggle Walkman whilst reading a Muggle Studies textbook. When he saw Percy come through the door, he smiled, taking his headphones off his ears.
"Come on then, Perce! How was the date?"
Percy grinned, oblivious to the fact that Oliver had just called him by his most-hated name. "It was… it was nice."
Oliver noticed the faint lip-gloss mark on Percy's cheek, and decided not to ask any further questions. "You wanna listen to something wicked?"
"More Muggle music?"
"Absolutely. Band from the seventies, called ABBA. This one song, I just can't get enough of right now."
Percy dutifully took the headphones, and listened intently to the upbeat music. It was quite different to that other band Oliver had played for him. There seemed to be at least four voices, and two of them were definitely female. This song was also a lot more optimistic.
"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line…Honey, I'm still free, take a chance on me," went the song, and Percy smiled at the catchy chorus. It was very infectious music. As he took the headphones off and went to sit on his own bed, Oliver looked at him pointedly, and said "Don't forget, Perce. I'm the first in line."
Percy looked confused, before replying "That's nice, Oliver. And it's Percy."
"Sorry, Your Majesty," Oliver replied sarcastically.
A few minutes passed in silence, before Percy felt the sudden need to ask Oliver a question.
"Have you ever thought about what you're going to do after Hogwarts?"
"'Course I have!" Oliver said cheerily. "I'm gonna play professional Quidditch for Puddlemere U. I'm a long-time supported, so I'm going to be their keeper. That's the plan, anyway."
Percy nodded. Being a Quidditch player was a much more reasonable profession than being a beautician.
Author's Notes:Well well well, that was a fun chapter, wasn't it? I enjoyed writing it, even though it took forever. And it's a longy too. Please leave a review; all reviewers get replies! And this is getting interesting... I finally know where I want to go with the story (yay!) so you'll hopefully see more direction coming up. Angelina's role, as promised, is starting to grow, and we're definitely going to be seeing a lot more of Penelope! But don't worry, my slash-fan friends. I'm a yaoi fangirl. =D
Until next time.