Chapter 2: Meetings

"Oliver?!" Percy couldn't hide his shock. Ever since they had left school, Oliver had been working hard at his Quidditch and made it on one of the top league teams. He had become a celebrity in the Wizarding World, and it was often very hard to just bump into Quidditch players out of coincidence. Percy looked at Oliver and saw those same deep brown eyes looking at him, the same brow hairdo, but a slightly buffer body.

"Percy! Long time no see!" Oliver said cheerfully, taking no note of the spilled alcohol down his front.

"Uh…yeah." Percy managed to say.

"Want to have a drink with me? I'll buy you one seeing as I'm the reason you have no more drink." Oliver said, "You just go sit down somewhere, I'll be right back." He said and went to order the drinks. Percy just stood there shocked for a while but then went to go find seats. He sat down and watched Oliver order their drinks. He took out his wallet and fumbled with some of the money. Shortly afterwards, he joined him.

"It's a bloody nightmare handling muggle money!" Oliver commented as he sat down. He took a swig of his drink.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked all of a sudden, he must have sounded rude, but he was just too curious. Oliver looked at him for a second then replied.

"I'm up visiting my granny, she's fallen a bit ill and I just came up to see if she's ok." Oliver replied truthfully. 

"Oh, I hope she feels better soon." Percy replied.

"So what have you been up to Percy? Surely you work in the Ministry?" Oliver asked, diverting the conversation from him.

"Yeah, I work in The Department of Magical Cooperation." Percy replied. He shifted on his seat and took a gulp of his drink. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous around Oliver. At school, he had been a little bit attracted to the older boy. Now, he was more handsome than ever and he was famous. A famous Quidditch Star. And it didn't help that there was still a stain as to where Percy had spilt his drink on him.

"The Department of Magical Cooperation? That's a well good department to be working in. Not as rowdy as some, but not too small and quiet. You must like it there." Oliver smiled at him. That smile did it. Percy saw that it was still the same Oliver he knew so many years back, just a little older.

"Yeah, it's quite good. Pay wells too, enough to go from day to day." Percy replied, starting to feel relaxed.

"So, do you still play for Puddlemere?" Percy asked.

"Yep! I'm damn proud to be in that team. We're higher in the league and many of the players are qualified for the Quidditch World Cup! They'll be choosing the players within 4 months, seeing as the World Cup is coming up in about a year's time." Oliver grinned and took the last swig of his drink.

The two old friends sat in the pub for a while, just catching up on news of each other and remembering their old school days. Percy looked at his watch and was shocked to see that it was already 10.35pm. Time just flew by.

"I better get going now. I need to be up early tomorrow for work. It was nice seeing you again Oliver!" Percy said and put on his jacket.

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you too. Maybe we'll bump into each other some time soon?" Oliver asked as he put on his jacket also.

"Yeah sure. I'll owl you." Percy smiled and then looked at Oliver's stained jumper. "You might want to clean up though; you'll get some suspicious looks from the police if they see you wandering the streets smelling like alcohol." Percy stated.

Oliver looked down and then whispered an enchantment. The stain was gone and it seemed like he had never been near alcohol. The two men headed outside and walked in opposite directions, each thinking their own thoughts on one another.

Percy closed the door to his terraced house and hung his jacket on the coat hooks. The door to the living room was open and he saw Helen lying on the couch and watching a film. The door creaked and she looked up at Percy.

"Oh, you're in so much trouble Mister! You missed your curfew, it's 10.50pm! Where have you been?" she asked in a mocking motherly tone. Percy smiled at her.

"Bit rich coming from you." Percy grinned at her look.

"My my, is my Percy becoming more rebellious and staying out late? What is the world coming to?" she said again and laughed. "Want to watch the rest of the film with me?" she asked. Percy was about to refuse seeing as he had to work, but he had no chance to answer as Helen pulled him town onto the sofa with her.

"It's a really funny film. You see it's about this boy who wants to go to this really preppy university, but the guidance councillor mixes up his record with someone else's. He gets refused but then he goes up with his brother and girlfriend to go and fix the problem but it just keeps getting worse!" she said giving him the gist of the film.

***

The next morning, Percy cursed himself for getting up later than usual. Now he was completely off schedule, and he hadn't even finished the work he was supposed to do yesterday. 'Why do I listen to her? Go to the pub, watch a film way into the night, and don't finish my work. That's just pitiful.' Percy thought to himself. Helen always seemed to be able to do that, make him procrastinate. Percy stumbled down the stairs and grabbed some toast.

"I'm going to work now Helen! See you later!" he shouted up at her. He received a tired grunt in reply. 'That's probably the most corrigible thing she has ever said in the morning.' Percy thought as he opened the door. He quickly walked to a deserted alley in which he apparated.

That morning was busy for Percy. His assistant Gwen had instantly rushed him to a meeting that morning, concerning some of the International Quidditch Teams coming over for the World Cup next year. He had to negotiate with the representative, who was frankly the most stubborn person he had ever met, with the exception of his mother.

 After a rather tiresome argument, the representative agreed to some terms Percy had provided. Percy was more than happy when the meeting was over. He went to his solitary office and collapsed in his chair. 'Damn the World Cup!' he thought angrily, as he rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. He was starting to get a headache, and you couldn't blame him as he had been provoked to stay up late, and he had to deal with a very un-cooperative representative.  Percy opened his eyes as he heard a flutter of wings fly in. Hermes stood by, letters for him to read and reply to.

"Thanks Hermes. If you go and see Gwen, she might have some owl treats." He smiled at his owl as he stroked its majestic feathers.

He was thankful to see that there weren't too many letters for him to read. Just three or so. One was from Helen, telling him that they were out of cheese and that she wouldn't be able to buy it since she was working on the night shift. He received a copy of The Daily Prophet and sure enough, he saw his little sister's article on page 2. It was about the recent feud about Auror's thinking they don't get paid enough. And the third letter was scrawled in a familiar scrawl. He opened it up.

Hi Percy!

Are we still up for lunch today? I meant to ask yesterday but I completely forgot to ask! If not, it's no problem! Well, I'll talk to you soon!

Penny xxx

Percy smiled. Penny always double checked things. But of course he'd meet her for lunch. It was at certain times he got a longer lunch break and today was one of those days, and he intended to make the most of it.

Lunch came and Percy walked down Diagon Alley to meet up at the café he always ate at with Penny. He saw her seated at their normal place, the outdoor table with the red umbrella. Penny was seated with her guide dog, Rufus. He gave a welcoming bark to Percy and wagged his tail. Penny instantly smiled as she felt his presence too.

"Hi Percy! How are you?" she asked and stood up to hug him. He hugged her back and sat down opposite her.

"I'm ok Penny. Just another stressful morning. With annoying representatives from other countries." Percy said offhandedly. She giggled.

"They're still worked up about the whole Quidditch World Cup? You should hear Warren talk about it. He really wants to see a Quidditch Match. He's going to end up being the biggest Quidditch fan." Penny smiling, her milky blue eyes shining.

"Oh speaking of Quidditch, you'll never guess who I bumped into yesterday when you left." Percy said as he looked at his menu.

"Enlighten me."

"Oliver Wood."

"What?! You can't be serious!" Penny replied, eyes widened.

"It happened all right. Spilt my drink all over him. But he didn't seem to mind. We just caught up on old times." Percy said as he called waiter to their table.

"Oh? Old times huh? Did that include…"Penny started.

"Of course not!" Percy interrupted. She grinned.

"You really should have Percy." She said still smiling.

"Oh that would have been brilliant. 'Hi Oliver! Let's catch up on old times! Oh! By the way, did you know I had a crush on you back at school? No? Well, now you know! Now you can go away and be disgusted with me and never talk to me ever again!' That would be just delightful. And it was just a crush! I don't have it anymore." Percy ranted.

"Would you step off your soapbox and let me rant now?" Penny asked, still smiling. Percy chuckled.

"Honestly Percy. I'm sure you still like him. No matter what you say!" Penny told him.

The waiter finally came over and they ordered their drinks and their meal. There was a slight silence until Penny suddenly sat bolt upright with a look on her face. Percy knew that look, she was plotting something.

"Whatever it is, the answer's no." Percy said instantly.

"Oh come on Percy, it's not as bad as my past ideas!" Penny said with a smile. They remembered only too well how they had tried to make Oliver notice Percy.

"Bad? That's the understatement of the year."

"No, this is just subtle really. Invite Oliver to your sister's party." Penny told him.

"What? Why?" Percy asked.

"Honestly, for a smart guy, you can be quite dense. This is only Plan A. Plan B will unfold at the party. With a little help from yours truly." She grinned. Percy sighed. Once Penny started plotting, there was no escape.

***

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating in ages, but I haven't been able to due to exams coming up. But I'll try to post as often as possible!  Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter ! I wrote it when I had a sudden urge to write and this is what came out! Oh, and the film Percy and Helen watched was 'Orange County!' And the article Ginny wrote was base on the strike that Fire-fighter's in the UK are going on. Just to clear that all up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the past chapter! I love ya!  Please R/R!

Pippin: This is for you! I slaved away into ungodly hours to write this so I hope you like it!