Author/ff.net: Azrael
Paring: Percy W./Oliver W.
Rating: GP at least for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not mine, my idol JK Rowling owns them, but the made up characters
are borne out of my wicked mind.
Warning: **slash alert**
Notes: Two friends? meet again after some years and have some weird
discussions about weddings and whatnot.
Chapter Two: A Reunion of Sorts
**********
It took a bit of time before Percy realized that he was hearing voice.
"Stand back, everyone, Give the man some air." Came a very masculine voice, Percy thought that the voice sounded familiar but at the same time he couldn't put a face on it. Percy's eyes fluttered open as he heard the excited murmuring of the crowd. He looked around the people gathered about him and wondered how he fell asleep in this place.
"The poor thing just fainted from the excitement of winning me." Winning, Percy thought. Suddenly it all came back to him. It took Oliver Wood himself holding him upright to keep him from keeling over. And he thought that it was just a nightmare.
"Oliver, would you just please shut up and let me take a look at –"
"Oh, chill out, Thane, I know this person, we went to Hogwarts together. See his pretty blue eyes becoming clearer. There's no blood that I can see, so he doesn't need a doctor, I'll just take him outside and fill his pretty head with some fresh air.
"No!!" Percy couldn't understand why no one seems to hear his objections. He said it out loud didn't he?
He tried to move his lips, but no sound could come out. He was hopeless as the arms led him off.
"Alright, but behave yourself you hear. I've got to finish the auction, I'm counting on you to take care of the man." Thane said hesitantly.
"His name's Percy Weasly." He said for the benefit of the crowd. "I know a handsome name for a handsome guy. We went to Hogwarts together. I knew the voice sounded familiar." He looked at the form of Percy who until now, is struck dumb. "I like the way you changed your looks. I'm glad that you lost that glasses of yours, they're hideous. Though the head boy I know would have taken more than two minutes to make his swoon."
"Can you stop being a swelled heat git and help the man."
"I will, so why don't you go back and finish the auction." Oliver chided.
"Okay I will, but promise me that you'll behave?"
"Don't I always?" Thane just smirked and looked at the ashen form of Percy. "Are you sure that you're alright?"
Of course not, Percy thought in his mind, but his head gave a nod in its own volition. Apparently he's still not in full control of his facilities. Bemused, Thane shook his head and gave a gesture to the crowd to precede him back into the hall and the auction.
"You know Percy, if you wanted to feel my arms around you, you should have just asked. You didn't have to faint, I'd have given you one for free."
That cheeky remark seemed to put some air back into Percy's lungs. "Okay, would you kindly let me go you….you." he sputtered, apparently his was not a tongue capable of coherent speech at the moment.
"Oh, Percy, Percy, Percy, you wound me deeply. How quickly you forget. In case you've forgotten my name is Oliver." Oliver said, whipping out that boyish grin of his. "Say it with me…Oo-li-vehr."
"Of course I know who you are, but please can you let go of me now. I feel perfectly fine." But still Oliver didn't let go of him.
"Oh, believe me you won't get any argument from me on that score. You feel perfectly fine to me too." Still he didn't move his arms.
Percy, though no fault of his (at least that's what he thinks) was starting to feel faint again. "Let go of me, right now or I'll….. I'll…" he looked around him for inspiration….. "I'd hex you so bad, you wouldn't be walking straight for about a month."
"Though I have no doubt in my mind that you probably could at that, you don't need that, walking straight is the least of my worries." The way Oliver is feeling right now, with Percy in his arms, he wasn't even thinking straight at all.
Percy realizing that Oliver seems to be lost in thought, decided to just wiggle out of the arms and look for his wand at the same time.
"Stop wiggling." Oliver said in a gruff voice. "Oh, no you won't be finding your wand there, you left it at the front desk remember? No wands allowed inside the auction hall. Besides - " Oliver gave Percy an innocent look. "Why would you want to do that anyway?"
Percy glared at the puzzlement in Oliver's voice, but seemed resigned to the fact that the man wouldn't be putting him back on his feet for quite some time yet. "Because all of these has been a mistake. If you'll just let go of me, I'll pay my part and get out of here." He all but shouted. "There's no need for you to honor the weekend date. I'll consider the money as a charity donation for a good cause and be done with it."
"I don't understand." Oliver said, but finally put Percy steadily on the ground. "Why did you auction for a date if you didn't want one in the first place. Weren't you planning on-"
Percy didn't wait for the man to finish, "It's for a wedding okay." Percy interrupted, figuring that it would be enough to dissuade Oliver from going. No man ever went willingly to a wedding – heck, sometimes the groom has problems showing up. How much more as a date of another man. That's just isn't normal.
"A wedding, that's great I love weddings."
"You do?" Percy seemed to be caught off guard by this exclamation of delight from Oliver.
"Of course I do, besides I can't wait to see Fred and George again, it's been ages since I've seen them." Then a sudden thought seemed to race through Oliver's mind. "By the way, who's getting married, is it Fred or George?"
"It's my youngest sister Ginny."
"Little Ginny, that's awesome." Oliver exclaimed.
"Wait, you don't understand –" Percy interrupted again, from his point of view, Oliver seemed to miss one very important fact. "You'd be dating me…" Percy reminded him. "A man." He said pointing to himself to emphasize his point.
"Don't worry Perce, I knew that you were a man when we were in school, and until about a few moments ago, you still felt like a man to me." Oliver raised one of his eyebrows. "Or did you perform a gender manipulation charm that I don't know about?"
"Of course, I haven't." Percy defended himself. Honestly Oliver hadn't changed a bit. "I still haven't lost my marbles." Percy blushed, apparently realizing that he made a faux pas remark. Marbles, geez and they were talking about being a man. He rushed on, apparently trying to change the subject. "Aren't you a but curious why I'm doing this?" he asked.
Oliver looked at Percy for a moment and decided to let the former remark pass. There's time enough to make Percy blush more later. "I'm assuming that your family knows that you're out, or you're just bringing a man for the shock value. Heck, either way I get free food." Oliver answered, patting his flat tummy.
"That's it, that's all you can say. You really do love weddings then?" Percy repeated, seeming unable to fathom the concept.
"Are you kidding me? From all the food, all that white, flowing champagne and insatiable lust in the air." Again that naughty grin appeared on the man's flawless face. "What's not to like?"
Percy groaned inwardly. Oliver hasn't changed much since graduation, he still is Percy's worst nightmare and he had a feeling that this particular episode would be hard to wake up from.
The man was as persistent as a frisky puppy.
"It would be for the whole weekend. With my whole family at their house." Percy began, in his effort to make Oliver think that going to a wedding is not something that he really wants to do. "You have to go to the rehearsal dinner. You'd have to attend the wedding and the reception. And any other family obligations involved."
"Heck, if you wanted me to, I'll even go to the bachelor party and bridal shower with you." Oliver interrupted. "I'm sure that with Fred and George there, it would be an entertaining weekend to say the least."
"of course you would, you stupid git." Percy muttered.
"What? Did you just say something? I didn't quite catch what you said." Oliver asked, the fact is, he heard it clearly but the question presented itself, and it was the only viable reason that he has so that he could put his face close enough to look at Percy. Barely a feet separated them now.
"No, nothing, just talking to myself." Percy frowned, while moving a bit further from Oliver. He was also couldn't believe that he was in a position of wanting to do so.
All along, even before going to the auction, he had been working on some arguments on how to convince the date that he was supposed to bid on to come with him and now that the date in question, seemed excited to go with him, he was thinking of letting the whole thing go. Of course, Percy reminded himself. The date that he was supposed to be bidding on wasn't supposed to be the man standing in front of him right now. Oliver was trouble, that much he can expect.
"So?" Oliver prompted, getting Percy off his reverie.
"So what?" Percy repeated, not really catching the drift of what the man was asking.
"Are you going to keep me or are you going to return me and embarrass me in front of all those people?"
Percy hadn't thought of that. It wasn't in his nature to hurt anyone's feelings. Though he was completely sure that the pout and sad look on the man in question is just for show, more for effect than what's real. Since their school days, he knows that it would take more than just sending him back inside to embarrass the Gryffindor golden boy.
"If you're still embarrassed because you fainted, you can just give me the money and I'll turn it in for you. Though I'm sure that nobody would mind it, I bet they already forgotten all about it now." Oliver offered, nudging Percy to make the decision in his favor.
He must be crazy to even consider the option. But maybe he was crazy because he gave his four hundred galleons to the man anyway.
"Are you forgetting something?" Oliver asked, as he pocketed the pouch in his crumpled robe.
"I did bid four hundred galleons didn't I?"
"Yeah, that's right but I'm talking about where I'm going to pick you up to escort you to the wedding. Unless you're living with the twins, I need to find out where you live." Oliver added. "Or if you want I could just sent Fred and George an owl and ask them for your address."
Percy was horrified he was completely speechless.
"Just kidding, I know you would rather surprise them at the wedding." Percy was pleased. "You're smiling." Oliver observed, looking at the ghost of a smile that was now forming at the end of Percy's lips." "You should do that more often. You look very cute when you do. You should have smiled more at school. Who knows? If people see you smile like that then you won't need to go to an auction to buy yourself a date next time." Percy blushed at the unexpected compliment, or was it?
"I live in one of the flats a block away from Diagon Alley." He proceeded to give Oliver a piece of parchment with his address scrawled on it. "But if you want we could just meet some place, maybe the Leaky Cauldron."
"Hey you went to all this trouble to take me to the wedding, the least I could do is pick you up?"
"I almost forgot, you need to be there the whole time, so maybe your coach wouldn't want to let you out of your Quidditch practice, it's quite alright if you're not able to, I'll manage." Percy's last ditch effort to get out of the deal.
"Since I'm sure that you're not reading the sport's news in the Daily Prophet, I'd hate to have to inform you that Quidditch season is over, and won't be starting until three months from now."
"Uh three months, that's a shame, I know that teams starts their practice session as quickly as they could. Maybe your team captain would have something to say about that." Percy played his last card. Hopefully his team captain wouldn't be too keen on letting his first team seeker go at such a short notice.
"Believe me, it would be no problem." Oliver assured him.
"But your team captain?"
"Is me." Oliver gave Percy a wink.
Percy moaned, if he didn't know better, he'd swear that Fred and George were behind this.
************
"You know Oliver, you need a keeper of your own, a housekeeper that is." Thane Hzon chided his best friend, Oliver. "This whole place is a mess, when I come for a visit, I'd swear it looks more and more like an owlery every time. Honestly it looks like a strong tornado came through this place and tore the whole place down."
He lifted a pair of old shirts by the sleeves and threw it on the wicker basket with the rest of the clothing that he already collected.
Oliver looked up from his playbook where he'd just added another note, reluctant to let go of his quill. He was the team captain of the Appleby Arrows, as well as it's keeper (goalie in terms of ice hockey). Stretching his broad back, as he rolled his neck from side to side, as if it was still stiff from the long hours he spent bent on the desk, which, Thane thought he probably did. "I need to finish this before Friday, As if you didn't know that." Thane was also on Oliver's team, he's one of the three chasers. "You know I can't be creative and domestic at the same time. As soon as I finished these plays, I'll clean the whole place up, I promise" Oliver dipped his quill on ink and wrote some more.
Thane sliced him a considering look. "You have never been, nor will you ever be domestic." He and Oliver both laughed as they both knew that this was true.
"Not true Pooh thinks that I'm very domesticated"
"Pooh, is not a person Oliver, she's an owl. All you have to do is give her some treats and not let her water bowl go empty and that's it."
"You know that that she's not just my owl, she's the love of my life." Oliver said fondly, looking at the tawny colored owl, that now contently sleeps on her cage. "Why are you really here, Thane? We both know that you didn't come over to clean my place, though I appreciate the thought."
"Hey can't a man visit a friend and see how his team captain is doing."
"He can but you hardly ever do. Even during Quidditch off season, you always seem to be out and about in the muggle world."
"Well, ot be honest. I'm bored out of my mind." Than grinned. "The muggle world is an interesting place, but personally I could use a break. Besides I'm rather quite interested to know this guy that you met at the auction."
"I knew it was more than the pleasure of my company that brought you here." Oliver gave his friend a superior look.
"So you were right. Honestly, this nagging sense of always being right is getting to be annoying." Thane gave Oliver a considering look. "Look the reason is it's been almost four years since she left, you have to get on with your life." Now referring to Oliver's former lover, who just up and left when Oliver was going through some tough times. "She's just not worth it."
Oliver looked thoughtful for a moment. "That particular part of my life is over, Thane." Oliver said quietly. "I really don't want to have anything to do with her anymore."
"Great then, see I told you that this auction would be a great idea. Why don't you go out, cruise and get some action for a change." His friend advised.
"Too late, mate, I already have a date this weekend with a the particularly handsome fella you just asked me about, a few seconds ago." Oliver remarked.
"Is it just me or are you getting some immense satisfaction about that blessed event?" Thane asked, seeing an aura of excitement over Oliver, which he hasn't seen in almost four years.
"Actually I am." Oliver grinned. "You know the classmate that I was talking to you about when we were still second string at Puddlemere?"
"How can I forget about the guy that you said was the one who got away?" Then realization dawned about Thane, "don't tell me that this was the same prefect that you had a major crush on. The same person that you said didn't lean the same way?"
Oliver looked positively gleeful, "Apparently he does, since he was not at all disappointed at getting a man on the auction. He was disappointed in getting me, of course. But not because I'm a man. I think that he wanted to surprise his family."
"That's another thing." Thane said softly. "I know that you had a major crush with this guy for ages, but I don't want you hurting the guy. I know how you used to pick some guy or girl out at random and throw them out of the relationship like last weeks thrash. Percy looks nice, and he doesn't need you complicating his life in anything that might not be considered good."
A look seem to cross Oliver's face, but Thane couldn't quite put a finger on it. "I've been there and I've done that Thane. Right now I'm ready to be in a real relationship, and I've got a feeling that Percy Weasly is just what the doctor ordered." Oliver said with conviction. One things for sure, this would be a weekend that he was looking forward to.
