Quilting: OliverPercy

Character Appreciation: glasses

Book Club, Ria: athletic, sporting event, awkward

Buttons: Oliver Wood

Lyric Alley: We could turn around, or we could give it up.

Liza's Loves, Hawk Moth: Write about a start

Jewel Challenge, emerald necklace: Write about a truth or lie told by a lover

Word Count: 458

Percy awkwardly adjusts his glasses, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. It fails. He is still a bundle of raw nerves, and his heart continues to pound within his chest. It shouldn't be a big deal. This is hardly the first time he's shown up to a Quidditch match.

But it is the first time he's seen Oliver since that night, months before the final battle. He had been a coward and said things he hasn't meant, and he'd lost Oliver in the end.

Trying not to think about it, he makes his way through the stands and finds a spot just as Puddlemere march onto the pitch. It's easy to spot Oliver, even from here. He walks with a confidence Percy could never manage.

It seems as though he's gotten cuter since their last moment together. Oliver is leaner now and looks more athletic, if that's even possible.

Percy sits down just as the whistle blows and the match starts.

…

"Perce?" Oliver's brows raise. He folds his arms over his chest, and Percy tries not to notice how standoffish he looks. "What are you doing here?"

"Good match," Percy says, offering him a small smile.

Oliver rolls his eyes. "You're avoiding my question."

"I screwed up."

Oliver exhales deeply. His posture relaxes slightly, but not all the way; there is still so much tension in his body. He studies Percy for a moment, his hazel eyes narrowed. "Yes," he says stiffly. "You did."

Percy deserves the anger. He had been blind and desperate to rise above his station at the Ministry. In the end, that had meant hurting Oliver.

"I'm sorry." Percy's voice is barely above a whisper. "I didn't mean what I said. You aren't a mistake. I'm a bloody idiot, and I've been a mess without you."

Oliver's lips quirk for a fraction of a second, almost like he wants to smile, but they quickly draw back into a hard line. "What am I supposed to say, Perce?" he asks. "That it's okay? It's not. You really hurt me."

"I know. And I know it's not okay. But I want to try again. I mean… Even if you decide to give up, at least I tried to make things right," Percy says. "That sounded bad…"

"It did. Bit like you're putting the blame on me," the other man agrees.

Percy shakes his head. "I'm not. It's all my fault," he says. "And if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

For several minutes, Oliver is silent. Finally, he offers Percy a genuine smile. "That's an awfully long time," he says softly. "Better get started."

Percy kisses him, and the world seems a little brighter.