In A Time Of Uncertainty

Part One, Chapter Six

"...but it wasn't really pale blue, it was more of a gray-blue, and I just know Snape took marks off," said Percy for the eighth time. He began to chew on a fresh fingernail. The first day of N.E.W.T.s were over, and Percy's roommates had been forced to suffer his lamentations for the last half hour.

"Perce, it's all right," said Oliver, who was about ready to put a Silencing Charm on his friend. It wasn't as though Percy really had anything to worry about. "And stop biting your nails, you'll draw blood if you aren't careful."

"I added the foxglove extract too late, I was supposed to wait three minutes but some of the extract spilled so it ended up being three minutes and - "

"Nineteen seconds," finished Theo, looking thoroughly irritated. "Your world is at an end. Your future is destroyed. The Ministry will never hire you as a janitor, and your mother will cry floods. You might as well just crawl into a hole and wait to die."

"And Snape glared at me when - "

"He glares at all the Gryffindors, in case you haven't noticed," said Lane, rolling onto his back with an exasperated sigh. "Someone as smart as you should have - " Oliver shot him a look and he stopped.

"I don't know what you're going on about, Perce, we all know you've never gotten anything below Exceeds Expectations on an exam," said Theo. "Now please sit down and be quiet."

"The whole lot of you be quiet," said Oliver, who was beginning to get a headache. He didn't think that his Ancient Runes exam had gone well, and he was in no mood to take the Transfiguration and Muggle Studies tests the next day. "You're all grating on my nerves." He reached under his bed, took out the latest letter from Jean-Marc, and read it again.

Dear Oliver,

Ah, a redhead. I have always been partial to red-haired men. (Don't tell Louis!) There was a boy in my class at Beauxbatons that reminds me of your Percy; his name was Phillipe, and he left the library only to eat, sleep, and shout at noisemakers in the corridor. I saw him gyrating against a handsome blond at the discothèque last weekend. Some boys are like that. They are scared of who they are, so they retreat from others and put up walls to keep them out. I may be wrong; the fact that Percy did not show off his girlfriend at first indicates that maybe I am. (So many closeted boys do this with women.) But it sounds to me like your redhead is afraid of something.

I am pleased to hear that you liked Summer of Fire. It was the second erotic novel that I published, and although there are a few things I wish I had written differently (the scene on the metro, for one), I was very satisfied with it.

Do you remember Martin? (Black curls, short nose, birthmark on his neck, offered to set you up with his former boyfriend.) He and Luc are now lovers. I hope it does not hurt you to hear this. I mentioned Percy to Luc, a little, I hope you do not mind. He says best of luck, and that the freckles sound sexy.

Delphine, I am sorry to say, left Anne when she was transferred to Nice. I am quite angry with her.

I hope that you do well on your exams...and best of luck with Puddlemere United! If you make it I will come to see your first match.

Jean-Marc

He wasn't angry at Luc; they had agreed from the beginning that they would date for the summer only, until Oliver went home to Scotland. It just felt odd to think of him with someone else, especially a twenty-three year old. His former boyfriend now had a lover, whereas Oliver hadn't had a date since August. Of course he'd been busy with Quidditch and he wasn't out at Hogwarts, but...still.

Across the room, Percy was still biting his nails.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So one minute you say I'm grating on your nerves, and the next you want to go to dinner in Hogsmeade."

"That's exactly right."

"I have to study for History of Magic."

"You know that stuff like the back of your hand, you didn't miss a thing when I quizzed you last Thursday. Food is good for the brain. Come on, our year's got open campus until the end of term."

Percy glanced at the clock, then back at Oliver. "Oh, all right. Give me five minutes to change my clothes."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Oliver wondered if perhaps his luck was with him, because at then end of the five minutes Percy looked good. He'd put on a black oxford shirt that was, to Oliver's great surprise, not buttoned up to the top and not tucked in. The black creased trousers had been replaced by well-worn dark gray jeans; unfortunately, the black polished shoes remained. But overall, the change was an unexpected pleasantness. If only Percy had switched clothes in their room and not the bathroom...

Stop it

, Oliver told himself. He's dating Penelope and is therefore straight...or bi, but taken nonetheless. You haven't got a chance.

Ah

, said another part of his mind, if you completely believed that, you wouldn't have asked him to dinner.

"Ready?" Oliver asked. He'd taken off his robe and kept the red t-shirt and jeans that had been underneath.

"Yes, I am."

"All right. Should we walk or fly?"

A look of sheer terror crossed Percy's face. "I can't fly at all. The last time I tried I fell off and ended up with an concussion."

That was the sort of statement that usually prompted a sarcastic retort from Lane, but he was silent. Oliver glanced over at him; his roommate's eyes stared unmoving at his Transfiguration book.

"And when was that?"

Percy bit his lip and looked a little embarrassed. "The summer after second year."

"So we'll both go on mine," said Oliver, taking a risk. "You can hang on to my waist."

From the corner of his eye he saw Theo and Lane exchange looks.

"All right."

"You will?" He tried to breathe more slowly so that his heart would slow to its normal pace.

"Yes." Percy actually smiled; he had nice teeth.

"Then let's go," said Oliver. As he closed the door behind them, he saw Lane and Theo twitching their eyebrows and giving him large and quite obvious winks. He shut the door quickly before Percy noticed.