Confidence
By Serena-chan
Part Four:
After dinner, Fred and George suggested that they take advantage of the remaining light outside and practice Quidditch. Percy stayed behind to help his mum clear the dishes before rather reluctantly bundling up and trudging outside.
A comfortable blanket of snow covered the ground, and it crunched pleasantly under Percy's boots as he walked. Ginny and Hermione where building a snowman outside of the tree-surrounded paddock that they used for Quidditch practice during holidays. Oliver, Harry, Fred, George, Ron, and Lee were already on their brooms and starting practice.
Percy stood awkwardly for a moment just beside the trees that lined the paddock. He wasn't quite sure what to do. Ordinarily, he'd have done the natural big brother thing and helped Ginny with her snowman. However, Hermione was helping this time, and he felt it would be rude to join them without being asked.
Trying to join the Quidditch game was completely out of the question. Percy had never been too good on a broomstick in the first place, let alone flying at breakneck speeds in pursuit of a ball.
Why on earth did I even come out here? Percy asked himself. What's there for me to do? He could feel the familiar, nasty panic that crept up on him at moments like this beginning to well up in his chest. Well, perhaps 'panic' was too strong a word, but it was somewhere along those lines. He fought the sudden impulse to go back into the house, up to his room, and bury himself in a book.
He caught a glimpse of Oliver through the trees that were obstructing his vision. Percy wished more than anything at that moment that he could be fearless like that. Oliver was so confident on a broom. He could soar as high as he wanted, as fast as he wanted, completely free from all the burdens of everyday life.
Percy shook himself out of his reverie. Well, maybe he didn't have the confidence to join them, but he was not about to give in to his impulses this time. He would stay outside, even if he didn't do anything but watch the others. It seemed to be a step in the right direction anyway.
He walked over to the nearest clump of trees, and, casting a charm to keep the snow from getting his clothes wet, he sat down with his back leaning against a tree trunk to watch the Quidditch practice. Oliver, Harry, and Ron seemed to be on one team, while Fred, George, and Lee were on another.
They had bewitched snowballs to fly around as bludgers. True, they weren't nearly as powerful as regular bludgers (all they did was explode into a powdery mess when they hit someone, rather than knocking them off their broom), but at least it gave them something to dodge. Besides, this was much safer and much more sensible in Percy's opinion.
Before long, Percy was entirely entranced with the game before him. (Well, not so much the game as the leader of one of the teams.) Oliver truly was amazing at his sport. His concentration and intensity on the game easily rivalled any professional player. However, this particular evening he seemed rather distracted. He kept taking his eyes off the quaffle and looking over his shoulder as though he were searching for something.
About thirty minutes into the game, Oliver finally spotted Percy sitting, almost out of view, under a clump of trees. So that's where he's been hiding, Oliver thought. I was beginning to worry that he hadn't come outside at all.
Out loud he said, "Alright everyone, fifteen minute break. I need to dash inside and change my gloves. These I've got on are completely soaked through."
The others exchanged glances. It wasn't like Oliver to want to take a break simply to get some new gloves. However, no one wanted to object. They were all exceedingly cold from flying so fast through the icy air. A fifteen minute break would give them time to regain some feeling in their cheeks and noses.
Percy had heard Oliver shout something to the others, but he wasn't able to make out exactly what he had said. Soon, everyone had landed, and he saw Oliver disappear into the trees on the opposite side of the paddock. Percy sighed and kept his eyes focused on that area, waiting for Oliver to reappear.
How he wished he could have just one tenth of Oliver's courage! Just once he wished that he could come up with the nerve to do something daring, something that was completely unexpected of him, something where he acted first and thought later.
He thought of the excited gleam that sparkled in Oliver's eyes every time he sailed through the air on his broomstick, and a wave of determination swept over him. Why not? He asked himself, Why shouldn't I be more outgoing? At least at home anyway. That way, if I make a complete fool out of myself, it'll only be in front of my family and friends rather than the entire school.
Percy was awakened from his train of thought by a cold snowball exploding on the back of his head. He whipped around to find Oliver standing behind him grinning, and Percy realized that he must have sneaked around the wooded area of the paddock so he wouldn't be seen.
"So this is where you've been hiding. Why didn't you come join us?" Oliver inquired.
"I'd rather just watch, thank you," said Percy, wishing for the millionth time that he were more athletic.
"Come on," Oliver said kindly. "I'll bet you'd like it if you just tried it."
"I'll bet you'd like advanced arithmacy if you just tried it, but that doesn't seem to be happening either," Percy retorted. He inwardly winced at the sharp edge he'd had in his voice. He hadn't meant for it to sound mean.
Luckily, Oliver didn't seem to mind. He sat down next to Percy, and sighed. "I just hate to see you sitting alone over here."
Percy was about to remark that he'd sat alone hundreds of times and Oliver had never seemed to care before, but the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the look in Oliver's eyes. They were a shade of brown he'd only seen once before, the night Oliver had kissed him. It made his breathing uneven and his heart pound violently in his chest.
Whatever would have happened next, Percy would never know, for two tightly packed snowballs flew past them. Luckily, they missed hitting them, and exploded on the tree trunk they were leaning against, covering them in powdery snow.
"Gee, Oliver," George said, with Fred smirking just behind him, "I thought you were going in to change your gloves."
"Maybe I was, and maybe I wasn't!" Oliver shouted, hurling a snowball at them, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
This only caused Fred and George to laugh harder and throw more snowballs. The others hurried from the paddock to see what all the commotion was about, and soon they were all involved in a good natured snowball fight. Even Ginny and Hermione had been pulled into the skirmish.
Percy, who was not about to sit there and let the others pelt him with balls of frozen water, found himself becoming just as involved in the fight as everyone else. After all, having grown up with Fred and George as brothers, a snowball fight was one athletic thing he had learned to cope with.
Packing a perfect snowball, he saw an opening to hit Oliver in the back of the head. Taking aim, he threw the snowball. Just before it was about to hit however, Oliver turned towards him so that the snowball exploded right in the middle of his face.
As he wiped the snow from his eyes, Oliver turned to see a very sheepish looking Percy smiling at him. Oliver playfully tackled him, and because the ground wasn't particularly even where they were having their snowball fight, Percy lost his footing almost instantly. The two boys went tumbling at a downward slant several feet from the others.
"Hey, let me up," said Percy, who was being pinned down by Oliver.
"No, I don't think I will," Oliver grinned. "This is payback for hitting me in the face with that snowball."
My how the tables have turned, thought Percy. Only that afternoon, he had been the one pinning Oliver down. He then remembered what Oliver had done to get himself out of that predicament.
Don't think. Just act.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Percy had quickly sat up and pressed his lips against Oliver's. The other boy was taken off guard just long enough for Percy to shove him off and run back toward the others. Behind him, he could hear Oliver laughing and chasing after him. Well, he'd wanted to do something daring, and he'd certainly accomplished it!