Round : Five

School : Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry

Year : Three

Theme : Madam Puddifoot

Main Prompt : [Genre] Romance

Additional Prompts : [Event] Party

Special Rule : Incorporate the colour green and the meaning behind it in your story: Envy

Word Count : 2356

There was always a certain way people spoke of their past loves, an awfully nostalgic way that had their chests bursting with the memory of the times long gone past. For Percy Weasley, it had been Oliver Augustus Wood, the late member of one of those sport teams which Percy had only cared enough to watch when Oliver was playing. Otherwise, he couldn't have cared less. It was like trying to make Oliver read a book all week. Now, one might wonder how two people of such completely different interests might have met in a world and place like the one in which they lived.

Well, they had been eleven years old and had barely even started Hogwarts when they met in the room they had been assigned. When Oliver opened the door leading to their shared room to see one Percy Weasley laying on the floor after having somehow fallen from the bed he was laying on. "Are you exercising? I always did think it was always a wise idea to exercise during the late hours, as well as the early hours. It keeps you going, you know?"

Percy had never exercised of his own free will in his entire life. It was always Fred and George dragging him to practice, Charlie shoving him down the stairs, muttering something about how Percy desperately needed some good exercise to build up the muscles he didn't have right now. Percy didn't need any of that as long as he had his book to himself. He was perfectly fine inside and not talking to anybody at all, because he always felt the outdoors were heavily overrated. In Percy's completely humble opinion, only bad things happened when you were outdoors. You got murdered by a pack of starving werewolves. You got bitten by a vampire. You got brutally murdered by a rogue death eater still on the loose. You broke a bone. By now, his family would generally start to complain about him being so bloody negative, but Percy didn't think he was a negative person overall. He was just being realistic.

"Right, I am totally doing an exercise so late," Percy told the boy sarcastically, except the boy didn't seem like he understood the concept of sarcasm. He only laughed like he had just been told a very funny joke. His eyes were gleaming like he thought Percy was going to be his new best friend. Percy wasn't going to be anything other than mere roommates with anybody, let alone somebody who looked like he would get along more with the twins than him. He would rather read his book in a solitary space where nobody could bother him, thank you very much.

Friends were way too overrated, in his humble opinion. They betrayed you without a second thought, stabbed you where it hurt the most even though you had done absolutely everything for them—even given them the copy of their favorite book which had been officially signed by the author—and all that just because they thought that you were too lame for them now that they were hanging with the cool crowd, which meant they couldn't be seen with a loser like yourself. Basically, one was better off without those so-called friends who would just hurt you one way or another.

"I am Oliver," the boy said, all excited smiles and hyper energy which seemed impossible for one person to contain. "Oliver Wood."

Percy finally remembered that he was still laying on the floor which probably hadn't been cleaned lately and pulled himself up to his feet, blinking his eyes twice in order to properly regain his vision.

"Percy," he merely said, scanning the room for his glasses. Where were his glasses? He couldn't do any proper reading without his glasses.

Oliver moved his hand towards where Percy stood and he immediately felt an urgent need to run away from this place and all of these people he didn't know and had never met. They were expecting him to do something as completely ridiculous as socialize and get along with his peers and whatnot—to talk to other people as if imagining talking to others wasn't already enough to give him an urge to bury himself in a deep, dark hole where nobody could ever find him—but Oliver merely moved the glasses which were apparently resting on top of his head to his ears, his fingers clumsy and uncertain.

Percy was feeling very stupid right now. Why hadn't he ever thought it could be resting in such an obvious place in the first place? In fact, why hadn't he felt it? He wondered if it was possible to murder yourself with a wand. He wouldn't be able to live down this embarrassment. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." Oliver bit down his lip anxiously, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Would it be possible you would sit down at the table in the Great Hall with me tomorrow?"

Percy was actually considering skipping having to go there tomorrow, but he did owe him one for helping him find his glasses. "Alright."

"Great." Oliver grinned. "I will see you in the morning then. For now, it's probably best we get some sleep."

Percy agreed. "Good night, Oliver."

"Good night, Percy."

It was Oliver Wood who was falling down to the ground with a loud thud as the death eater before him stood laughing with a manic smile on her face. Oliver Wood, whom he had loved and was going to propose to after all of this mess ended for good. Oliver Wood, for whom his heart was breaking this very minute with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Before he realized what he was doing, he was rushing to his boyfriend's side, begging him to please not die on him right now, softly touching the edges of his familiar face. He was begging and pleading even as the death eater had her wand pointed on Percy now, ready to aim. Tears were falling down his face now, his chest sinking in denial, shaking his head refusing to believe he was dead. He considered dying here and now with Oliver, considering how much better it would be if he did than to live in a world without Oliver, but somebody got to the death eater before she could get to him.

When he lifted his head, he realized with a start that it was Ginny who was pointing a wand at the space where the death eater had once stood, breathing tiredly with shaking fingers.

"I refuse to lose another brother, Percy."

Ginny who had always understood him the best, who'd always been there for him when he needed her. Ginny walked to his side with slow steps and collapsed beside him, bending her head down to hug him around his neck, but barely being able to hug him without falling completely apart. "It's going to be alright, Percy. We are going to get through this." Percy shifted shakingly in the warmth of her embrace, shivering as he cried in her arms. He wondered if he ever would be okay despite her comforting words, wondered if he simply wouldn't just fall apart like that.

It was the anniversary of Oliver's death. The death anniversary of the one person whom he had allowed himself to get close to and fall in love with, which also happened to be the same day when the freaking war had ended. So, of course people gathered every year to celebrate it, to have a party as if the thought of that day wasn't enough to make him feel sick to the stomach—happy couples everywhere reminding him of what he had lost that day, making him feel a sense of envy in his chest. During the war, he had planned everything he would do with Oliver, including getting married to him, adopting children and attending pride parades along with him. He had imagined a whole life ahead of them in which they would grow old together, but Oliver had died that day, leaving him all alone in this world. Percy may have somehow gotten over Oliver, but that didn't mean he was over the loss of what they could have had.

"Are you honestly sulking in a corner?"

It was Pansy Parkinson who was eying him with an unimpressed look on her face, crossing her arms, slowly judging him. His secretary was always trying to get him to do social stuff, like meeting different types of people who stopped by their office every now and then. "You do this every year."

"Why are you here, Pansy?" he asked, not quite feeling like dealing with her right now.

"I thought you could use some company, Percy. It cannot be good to sulk and brood that much."

"I do not brood!" Pansy gave him a disbelieving look which clearly said, are you being serious right now, you big brooder? "You can go now. I do not need your company."

She rolled her eyes. "You always need my company. I am like the only person you talk to all week until I force you to go out and talk to some people."

"I do not need you taking care of me," Percy informed her, looking out of the balcony. "I can handle myself."

"Well, whether we like it or not, I care about what happens to you. I care about you a lot, and I would never want anything awful to happen to you. You are my friend." It was quite strange, the way she told him that, like there was something he wasn't noticing, wasn't paying enough attention to figure out.

"Pansy, you really should not."

Pansy laughed sheepishly, nodding her head in agreement. "Well, it's just my luck that I do." She bit down on her lip shyly, looking at him with those wide eyes before leaning into close the distance between them. It wasn't warm or soft like his past experiences with women. It was rough and wild just like her, and it made him feel all sorts of things that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Pansy bit on his lip which drew blood and with some effort, he pulled away. Pansy blinked at him once, then, with her face flushed, started on her feet as if she wanted to run away from here quickly before she lost any more face. Percy grabbed her hand before she could, shaking his head at her apologetically. "Pansy, wait―"

"You don't have to say anything. I understand. You don't want this."

He shook his head. "No, it's not that. I do want this, I realize that now. It's just―I haven't really been anyone since Oliver died." He gulped hard, remembering. He remembered the way it had felt when he had first kissed him when they were fourteen on that bed, the strange feeling which had overwhelmed him then, made him feel like he was doing something really wrong, doing things like this with a boy and not a girl like society had taught him he was supposed to. He remembered their first date, which had been at Hogsmeade, not long after their first kiss. He also remembered all those months he had spent locked up in his room after Oliver had died, barely eating and sleeping, barely functioning before he forced himself to his feet once again, realizing Oliver wouldn't have wanted this for him.

"I understand." She softly brought his hands to her own and squeezed, smiling softly at him. "I don't know if you know, but I lost somebody that day too. I had only realized upon coming home that day. They had punished our family for not taking a side by murdering my father just hours before Harry Potter saved the day, saving us from an awful fate. I know some people would say he deserved to die like that, but he was my father and he loved me. He had taught me how to ride a broom, how to behave myself in front of society correctly so I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of them. I learned a lot from the war, and some may not think like this, but Gryffindors aren't the only people who suffered that year. I was so fucking afraid, I was willing to do anything to survive.

"After that day, I tried so hard to be a better person, because the person I was then, she was insecure and was afraid of so many things, especially of failing people she loved. So, she went to extreme measures to prove to them that she wasn't weak, that she was worth something. I know it doesn't excuse anything I had done then, but that is how I feel."

"You were a kid."

Pansy laughed humorlessly. "There are lots of people who were ready to have me sent to Azkaban. Not everyone is like you."

"How about this? We have an experimental date on next Tuesday, and we see how it goes from there?"

Pansy bit down on her lips in an attempt to hide a smile, and nodded her head. "Sounds perfect."

Percy put down a pink rose on top of the grave, sighing. "It's been a while, Ollie. How are you doing on the other side? I hope my brother isn't giving you too much trouble. He always loved causing trouble." He smiled. "I met someone, Ollie, and I know I said I would never be with anyone again, but I think it's the time I moved on. I cannot live my whole life in love with a ghost now, can I?"

For a very long time, Percy felt like the only person he could love was Oliver and Oliver only, and when he had died, it had felt like his whole world was over. Except it wasn't, was it now? He still had a life which went on long after Oliver was dead.

He looked at the grave one last time, smiling."Goodbye, Oliver. I will always love you, but it is time I allow myself to completely get over you."