The Manly Art of Gentle Seduction

The manly art of gentle seduction.

Percy Weasley had never seduced anyone before. Indeed, he was rather at a loss to even posit what it actually involved. Although he hadn't been party to any acts of seduction himself, he had witnessed the trials and travails of his housemates and fellow students over the years, seemingly going through what appeared to be a smooth, organic process.

It started with a smile or two, a glance, an accidental touch, a casual conversation at lunch or between classes or during a Quidditch game. It would lead to notes being slipped into books during class, study dates, lunch together...and sooner or later Percy would find them snogging behind the broom shed while on his rounds.

He never quite understood it, and certainly didn't engage in such practices himself. For Percy, there was no point in trying anything if he couldn't be certain of success, not wishing to allow any damage to his pride or reputation. But once he believed he could do something, Percy would go for it and kill himself in the attempt if need be. Seduction, however, was not one of these areas. Unlike homework or diligent obedience to school regulations, it was not something easily assessed. One made the attempt and then one either succeeded or failed, seemingly through luck more than anything else - at least in Percy's judgment, and he had never been particularly lucky.

In hindsight, he should have seen that Penelope Clearwater was trying to seduce him. It started with a smile, as these things were wont to do, in Charms class one Tuesday afternoon. Professor Flitwick had paired them together, and Penny had been having some trouble with the basic form of the charm. Percy helped her master it, and once she had, the more advanced variations were easy for her, and she had to help Percy who'd been left behind. This lead to laughter and catching up over lunch the following day, Percy tentative and awkward and Penny so self-assured and free. Percy always admired that about her, and when she asked if they could study together one night a week for Potions (his best subject, her worst) he was only too happy to help.

He soon learned that Penelope's main problem was Penelope. She was stubborn and intellectual and certain she could learn things her way, resistant to outside teaching. When she failed to grasp a concept or action, she beat herself round the head with her seeming incompetence, and redoubled her efforts to work it out on her own, to prove that her capabilities and hers alone were up to the task. Percy would spend most of their sessions just retraining her how to learn, how to open up, as they debated notions of trust and security via philosophical conundrums and frequently left Potions far behind. But every single time he got her to trust him, he managed to explain the concept to her in as many different ways as it took for her to grasp it - and always, once Penny grasped something, she could do it better than he could.

During their study sessions, Penny kept leaning closer to him, accidentally brushing her hand across his wrist as she reached to turn a page, or other such things. The weeks passed, and finally, she leaned over and kissed him, and Percy realised that he was indeed, being seduced. He liked Penny a lot; she was smart and gracious and funny and obstinate. He enjoyed her company and he admired her brain, so when she asked him out, he said yes.

They were more like fellow academics than lovers, really. Searchers for truth and knowledge and the answers to all the mysteries. A few times, she opened up her blouse and took his hand, slipping it inside, and Percy would tentatively cup her breasts and circle a finger around her nipples, curious. Biologically he understood the differences between men and women, but that was all they were. Differences. Realities. Nothing that grabbed him, or drew anything out of him besides intellectual curiosity. But Penny had not seduced him for the sake of science, and so, reading his mood, she quietly broke up with him just before they finished school.

They agreed to stay friends, of course, as was the polite and acceptable solution to people wishing to display their maturity in such circumstances. A few owls followed, but both of them became busy with new careers, and so the letters got pushed further and further under the pile of things to do, and eventually were abandoned all together.

A few years later and the world had changed. Percy still saw himself as a seeker for truth, but he recognised that truth was a commodity and a weapon and could never truly be grasped by anyone; there were only shadows and ghosts and imitations. And with that awareness came a better understanding of himself, and his motives, and his wants.

So when he realised that he wished to seduce someone, Percy did what Percy tended to do. He read up on the subject. Wizards, for all their power and mystery, had no foolproof solutions to this problem either, but they had many self-help guides for which Percy was most grateful, and they all agreed on one thing.

Make the object of your seduction aware that they are being seduced.

So when the couple staggered clumsily over the threshold of Percy's small flat, a bit more tipsy than either of them had anticipated, there were copies of Quidditch Weekly on the coffee table, pennants for Puddlemere United fixed against the wall, and a life size poster of their Keeper prominently charmed stuck to his bedroom door offering them both a cheesy smile while posing in full Quidditch gear.

Oliver Wood turned to Percy, a teasing grin across his face. "Are you trying to seduce me, Perce?"

Percy kissed him softly on the lips, and said, "Yes."