Brotherly Love

"Perce? Talk to me, please," Oliver begged.

Percy closed his eyes. He didn't want to hear his roommate—for that was all that Oliver was to him now—use that nickname. He didn't want him to act so...familiar. Not after what he did.

"I can't, Oliver." With that hoarse whisper, he made to stride from the room. Unfortunately for him, Oliver's reflexes, honed by years of Quidditch playing, were too quick. The other boy grabbed him by the arm and spun him around.

"Please, Percy."

Percy fixed his gaze onto the scarlet and gold carpet. It was safer than looking into the other boy's brown eyes. "What is there to say? You really hurt me, Oliver. That's all there is to it."

He thought it was a bit dramatic to say that Oliver had broken his heart—even though he had—so he didn't.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Oliver said, and Percy flinched at the tortured note in his voice. "You—you have to believe me, Percy, I never meant for anything to happen with Davies. He came on to me—"

"And the fact that you were naked in the changing room showers with him, that was all his doing, was it?" Percy snapped. "Do you take me for an idiot, Wood?"

"Of course not." Oliver sank down onto his four-poster bed and looked at Percy with such despair that Percy couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. "I fully admit my part in—in what happened, but I—"

The sound of the door opening cut him off.

"Heya, Perce," Fred said brightly into the silence, "d'you reckon George and I could..."

Percy watched as his younger brother took in the tense atmosphere and frowned. "What's going on in here?" he asked, looking from Percy to Oliver and back again.

"Nothing," Percy and Oliver said at the same time.

Fred smirked slightly. "I don't think so. See, when you cover things up as much as I do, you kind of know when people are lying." He turned his attention to his Quidditch captain. "Oliver?"

"Ask your brother," Oliver said quietly. Percy tamped down the urge to make a biting remark about him taking responsibility for his actions.

"I would," Fred said, "but Percy's not going to give anything away. He has experience being interrogated by me."

Oliver stood hastily. "Interrogated? Look here, Fred, there's no need for that!"

Percy harrumphed.

"Funny," Fred said, raising an eyebrow, "Percy seems to think that there is."

Percy watched with a certain amount of satisfaction as Oliver tried to sputter his way out of the mess he had made.

"I—your brother—"

"Did you hurt him?" Fred asked sharply, an unexpectedly ugly look on his face. Percy was surprised at how quickly his younger brother had put the pieces together, but then again, Fred was quite intelligent in ways Percy couldn't understand. "Don't lie to me, Oliver, if you hurt him—"

"He cheated." Percy said it so softly he wasn't sure that Fred had heard him at first. Oliver grimaced, but Percy was done pitying him. He was done being everyone's doormat; first at home, and then at school. He deserved to be treated with respect, and not just because he wore a special badge. Louder, he said again, "He cheated."

Fred sent such an icy glare in Oliver's direction that Percy was surprised the older boy didn't shrink away. "I'd offer to take care of him but I'm sure you'd rather handle it yourself."

Percy thought about it for a moment. Oliver looked pleadingly at him, no doubt imagining the pranks Fred—and George—had in store for him, but Percy ignored him. He wouldn't show Oliver any courtesy if Oliver couldn't be bothered to do the same for him.

"You know what, Fred? Go for it."

Percy knew he would probably regret saying that later, but the mixture of surprise and delight on Fred's face was worth it. Percy felt a sudden rush of affection for his prankster brother. He gave Fred a lot of grief for breaking the rules, but his heart was in the right place. He just hoped Fred didn't break too many rules as a result of this.


Word count: 696

A/N: I had fun exploring the dynamic between Percy and Fred in this one!