Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
A/N: Ok, I should be studying for finals. Instead, what am I doing? Drinking and writing this! How do I manage to keep my GPA up and make dean's list? I have no idea, I'm a horrible procrastinator and slacker, but I do it somehow. Anyway, most of this I threw together quickly, I've only been over it once, and I really have been drinking. So it might be complete crap. I may have to come back and fix it when I'm sober. Anyhoo, hurray for school being almost over, but boo for taking finals. Here's part two, if it's crap I'm sorry, and I'll never write drunk again (at least not without proof reading while sober).
Btw, the title is completely random. Just in case you were wondering.
Look! A Dinosaur!
Chapter Two: For which I can't come up with a title.
The next day was Tuesday. Oliver, in a half awake state, heard Percy getting washed and dressed, then rummaging around in the kitchen, searching, and failing, to find something for breakfast. Shortly after he heard Percy give up on finding food in the flat, then heard a soft pop, and knew Percy had left for work. Oliver figured he should get up, he didn't have too long before he needed to be at practice.
He got up and dressed, and apparated to the stadium, left his things, and walked from there to a small café nearby where he usually had breakfast, thanks to the lack of food in his house.
He walked into the café and immediately spotted his friend Alistair, a chaser on his quidditch team. He grabbed a coffee and a scone and sat down with his friend.
"I thought you said you were going to stop by last night." Alistair said, "Ian was sad you weren't there."
"I know, Ali. I didn't get a chance to let you know, and well, honestly, I forgot. I was a bit distracted, I had unexpected company last night."
"Oh really? And what kind of company would this be?" Alistair said, a knowing smile on his face.
"Not that kind, Ali." Oliver said, "Honestly? You remember that redhead you asked me about in that picture from my graduation?"
"The one who you were shagging the entire time you were at school, that you were madly in love with, who dumped you when you graduated, which resulted in you being quite depressed for several weeks, and then to begin shagging everything with a dick?"
"Yeah, and I wasn't shagging him the entire time I was at school. Just from fifth year on."
"Whatever. Yeah, I remember him. Wait! No way? You mean…?"
"He showed up last night. He needed a place to stay."
"And you let him?"
"Of course, he's still my friend, I still care about him, and I'm still going to help him when he needs it."
"And your still in love with him."
"I am not."
"Yes you are. You never got over him."
"Yes I did. Why do you say I didn't?"
"Because it's obvious. I could tell before, and I daresay it'll get even more obvious in the next few days."
"Well, I disagree."
"I'm sure you're right." Alistair smiled sarcastically at him, obviously still not believing him, "So, how'd he look?"
"Fantastic," Oliver sighed. "He looks more grown up, but he's still the same adorable Percy. He has new glasses, and his hair's a bit different…" Oliver drifted off, smiling to himself, "but those freckles are still the same." He sighed again, "God, I love those freckles…" Alistair laughed at him.
"Yeah, right, you're over him. Waxing sentimental about his adorable, wonderful freckles, definitely a sign of moving on with your life." Oliver frowned at him.
"Think whatever you want, but I put all of that behind me quite some time ago."
"Oliver, it's only been a year since you broke up."
"Yes, well, that doesn't matter, I've still dealt with it and I'm over him." Alistair chuckled and shook his head, blatantly not believing anything he said. Damn him, Oliver thought, I bloody well know whether or not I'm love with someone!
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Oliver apparated home after practice that night, he found himself in his bedroom, and heard noise in the kitchen so he assumed that was where Percy could be found. He walked down the hall and found the redhead staring at nothing and chewing on his bottom lip.
"Percy?" he asked, startling the other man.
"Oliver, you weren't kidding, you have absolutely no food. You have brown sauce and tea. That's it. And the idea of making a meal out of those two is rather disturbing."
"You've never had brown sauce in your tea before? It's fantastic." Percy looked disgusted at this and Oliver laughed, "We had Indian last night so…chinese? Pizza?"
"Whatever you want, I don't care. Oh by the way, you just missed someone named Ian in the fireplace."
"Really? Was he cute?"
"Oh, well, I hadn't…" Percy cocked his head, thinking. "Well, yeah, he was."
"He's this friend of Alistair's, one of the chasers, he's been trying to set us up for a while. We were both supposed to be at his place last night, but I had to cancel. So, what did he look like?" Percy stayed silent, a strange look on his face, "I'm sorry, is this awkward for you?"
"No, no, it's fine, I was just thinking. It's nice, you and Penny are still the only people who know I'm gay, well, just about, so she's usually the only person I can talk to about cute boys." Oliver laughed at this.
"We used to in school." He said.
"Some," Percy replied, "But I don't know about you, I was worried you'd get jealous."
"I suppose that was a good idea, I probably would have. Anyway, Ian?"
"Oh, yes, well, he had curly light brown hair, his eyes were blue. I didn't see much of his body, cause he was in the fireplace, it looked promising though. But I couldn't give you and ass rating, as I didn't see it."
"Hmm…seems alright. And if you say he's cute…"
"He reminded me a bit of you. Not his looks, but he had that sort of…adorable jock vibe around him. Is he a quidditch player?"
"Yeah, reserve beater for the Cannons. How did you get all that from a quick fireplace conversation."
"Are you kidding me? After all that time I had a crush on you, you think I don't know a quidditch player when I see one?" a slight awkwardness descended on them, and both wished fervently that this wouldn't happen anymore. It was bizarre. The awkwardness only hit them occasionally. It seemed they could make jokes about having slept together for three years and be fine, but an occasional comment about having a crush on the other one would bring the awkwardness instantly. He really wanted to be friends with Percy again, and sincerely hoped they could get past this.
"You want to go grab a pizza? We can eat out, it'll be fun."
"Well, we might as well, there's nothing to eat here." The tension eased, as they began to chat idly about nothing in particular, and they set off to get some dinner.
Oliver lived in an area of London which contained quite a few muggles, so he always had some muggle money around, which he used to pay for his meals. They went to a restaurant just around the corner from Oliver's flat and ordered a pizza. As they sat waiting, Oliver brought up something that he had been wondering about.
"Percy? I know this isn't really any of my business, and you don't have to tell me. But, I was wondering why it was that you left home?" Percy paused, unsure how to answer that, or if he should tell the truth. He was silent for so long, that Oliver was beginning to think he was being ignored, finally he spoke.
"Dumbledore." Oliver was confused, and that must have been obvious, Percy continued. "This whole foolish business about you know who coming back. Mum and Dad, and everyone are listening to Dumbledore. But, I can't see how Fudge wouldn't know about it. If this was the truth, wouldn't the bloody Minister of Magic know? But he says there's nothing to worry about and why shouldn't we believe him? Ok, I grant that I may have gotten carried away with some of the things that I said to Mum and Dad, but I can't believe that Dumbledore is right, and that the Minister is denying something as obvious as they seem to think it is. If it was that obvious, wouldn't we all know? I suppose that sounds stupid."
"Not at all. Percy, the Ministry is your quidditch. That's what you've wanted, what you've worked for your whole life. If someone said something like that, something that shook the foundations of my lifelong dream, I don't think I'd believe it either."
"But would you leave your family, stop speaking to them even, because of it? I'm sure I've been completely foolish."
"No, Percy," Oliver placed his hand over Percy's, "Standing up for what you believe is never foolish." Percy smiled at him. A shy, thank you smile. A smile Oliver was very familiar with, from their early days at school. Percy had had different ways of thanking him when they got older. At this moment their food arrived, and Percy pulled his hand off the table, making room for it. Oliver moved his hand away too, but felt, keenly, the loss of the warmth Percy's hand had given him. Damn that Waiter, he thought, If it weren't for him I'd still be holding Percy's hand. Wait a minute, since when do I want to hold Percy's hand? Oliver tried to snap himself off this train of thought, but he found himself curious about what was happening. He did not still fancy Percy. So why was it that he was desperate to make the redhead feel better, to calm him, to reassure him, and to, hopefully, do it in ways that involved touching him as much as possible. NO! He stopped himself, this was not allowed. He could not think that way about Percy. He would force himself not to. But, considering how badly this meal was going, in that respect, the next few days would be hell.
TBC…