In A Time Of Uncertainty

Marauder

Story Summary:
They once longed for each other years ago, but neither was ready to face his feelings. Now Voldemort has returned, Oliver is recruiting wizards to fight against him, and Percy is estranged from his family. Hesitant and apprehensive, they decide to try to be a couple.

Chapter 25

Chapter Summary:
After the Quidditch match, Oliver goes to see Remus.
Posted:
01/13/2004
Hits:
1,151
Author's Note:
Sorry it's been a bit between chapters, but I figured you'd rather have a good one (hopefully!) after a while than a crap one right away.

Part Three, Chapter Three

There were two things Oliver had always appreciated about Remus Lupin; his calm nature and his ability to listen. Therefore, it was Remus whom he visited at eleven o'clock, the night after the Quidditch match.

"You flew in the rain?" asked Remus as he opened the door to 12 Grimmauld Place. His hair was untidy and he was wearing a teal dressing gown.

"It wasn't raining when I started out." Oliver pulled a wet sleeve away from his arm.

Remus sighed. "Come in."

The parlor of the house looked as if it were part of a haunted manor - lavish, dusty, and decrepit. There were large patches of dark wallpaper where portraits had once hung. The legs of the furniture were carved into ornate feet with ominous claws. Only the emerald teapot on the end table looked reasonably hospitable. It seemed that Remus had just made tea; a small trail of steam care from the spout of the pot.

"There are towels in the bathroom," said Remus. "I'll go get you something to wear."

Oliver wasn't sure what Remus had in mind - his former teacher was significantly thinner than he was. Nevertheless, he proceeded to the bathroom and stripped off his wet clothes. The thick towels felt wonderful against his skin.

Remus knocked on the door a minute later. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you anything else," he said, his voice muffled by the wall. Oliver opened the door a few inches and stuck out his hand. At first he thought Remus was giving him another towel - it had the same feel. As he pulled his hand back through the door he discovered it was a terrycloth dressing gown.

It was a dark red, with large pockets and a trailing sash. As Oliver put it on, he noticed a smell; not an unpleasant smell, but a strong and distinctive one. Sniffing again, he realized that it was actually two smells combined. One was lavender and the other was something that seemed to be hovering in the back of his consciousness.

"I put my clothes in the bathtub," he said to Remus after he came out.

"That's fine." Remus had gotten two teacups, which stood next to the pot. "I'm sorry that it's a bit snug for you, it was the best thing I could find."

"It's okay." Oliver joined Remus on the davenport and poured them both some tea.

"Thank you. So," said Remus as he took the cup Oliver passed him, "what brings you here?"

"Just needed to vent to someone sane."

Remus smiled wryly. "I'm glad to hear I meet your definition."

Oliver sipped. Then he said, "Percy and I are having a bit of a fight."

"I wondered if that weren't the case."

"It's mostly his fault. No - it's mostly my dad's fault. No, forget that, it's Voldemort's fault."

"Ah, the source of all problems."

Oliver couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Things started off all right this morning."

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

"You know," I'm not going to let you get away with that 'I have to ride a broomstick' excuse forever," said Percy. He was taking a bath as Oliver shaved. "You ride one nearly every day."

"Yes, and it hurt like hell. You weren't exactly...controlled."

"And you liked it. I could feel you like it."

"Until I got to practice." Oliver rinsed off his razor.

"If what's-his-name - Dai Whosit - could get used to it, so can you." Percy set down the soap and picked up the shampoo bottle, humming something tuneless but cheerful.

His seeming lack of nervousness intrigued Oliver. "Are you worried about my parents at all?"

"Not really. They raised you, it's not like they've got fangs."

"That's where you're wrong. My mum's got huge fangs, over an inch long. Sharpens them nightly."

Percy splashed him. Oliver turned on the sink's tap and splashed back. "Bad aim, Weasley."

"You don't know where I was aiming for."

"No, but I bet it wasn't my foot."

Before he could shut his mouth a torrent of water hit him on the mouth. He threw down his razor and climbed into the tub, amidst Percy's gleeful protests.

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

"It was only after breakfast that things started to go downhill." Oliver wished he had some sugar for his tea, but Remus hadn't offered any and Oliver wasn't about to ask. "Mundungus showed up just as we were doing the dished and wanted to know if we'd let him spend a few nights on the couch."

"I don't think his idea of 'a few nights' is exactly like other people's."

Oliver snorted. "Yeah, that's what I said. Don't get me wrong, I like Dung and all, but the rent on my flat isn't exactly cheap. And Percy just moved in - well, you know how it is. I wanted us to have some time for ourselves."

"Of course." Remus stirred his tea.

"Wasn't Dung living at Ali Bashir's flat?"

"Yes, he was. Ali came back last night after four months abroad."

Oliver looked up, surprised. "Did Dung tell you that?"

"Yes. He was here this afternoon."

Oliver glanced hurriedly around the room, as if he expected Mundungus to be lurking in the corner. Remus laughed. "Don't worry, Oliver, I didn't let him stay. There isn't room anyway."

"Good." Oliver exhaled. "Did he tell you about the fight with Mrs. Figg?"

"In great detail."

"God. So, anyway, he turns up at ten o'clock in the morning and wants to move it. Got his trunk and everything. And then Percy - Percy - wants to let him." Oliver set down his teacup harder than he'd meant to; Remus jumped slightly. "Percy! Percy, who thinks that everyone should work hard and get what they deserve. It's like he thinks he has to have a one hundred and eighty-degree personality switch to prove to me he's changed. Well, he doesn't. I liked him fine before, mostly - not when he pulled that prissy defensive crap, but the rest of the time." He remembered that Remus was unemployed, and added, "Don't get me wrong, I don't think everyone who doesn't work is scum, but Dung's taken it to the point of a career. That, and stealing."

"I agree."

"So Percy's going on about how it'll just be a few days, and I'm hissing under my breath that it won't be, and the whole time Dung's standing in the other room. And then I said - I know this was dumb, Remus, don't tell me - I said to Percy that I was the one who paid the rent, and I'd decide who lived there."

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

"Well, I'm glad you decided I could move in with you, then."

"Christ, Perce, I didn't mean - "

"I suppose it doesn't mean anything to you that I'm still paying rent on my own flat, which I could easily move back into - "

"You know you don't mean that."

Percy's head snapped to face Oliver. "Don't tell me what I mean."

"Look, love, we can split the rent next time it'd due, but the fact is that I paid it this month, and...and I don't want Dung sleeping on the couch." He reached forward and gently traced Percy's jawline with one finger. "Come on, I want some time for us."

"And what about Mundungus?"

"He can find somewhere else."

"That's compassionate."

"Percy, it isn't my fault that he doesn't work."

Percy pulled away from Oliver's touch. "You've never know what it's like to be poor."

Bloody hell, not the money thing again,

Oliver thought. "And you've never known what it's like to be lazy."

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

"I imagine that didn't go over well."

"Yeah." Oliver put his teacup - now empty - on the table and leaned his head against the davenport's armrest. "By the way, do you want to sublet Percy's flat?"

Remus smiled. "No, thank you."

"Are you ever moving out of here?" Exhaustion always made Oliver blunt.

"Yes, quite soon." Remus pushed a piece of hair back off his face; in the dim light, Oliver could see the stark lines on his face. "I have a house in the countryside; I'm moving back there." Noting Oliver's intrigued look, he added, "Sirius bought it with inheritance money his uncle left him."

"Oh." And then, "So in the end Dung left, but Percy was about ready to kill me." He stood up and began to pace the room. "Is it too much to ask for, a flat without Mundungus Fletcher sleeping on the couch?"

"Hardly."

"Well, according to Percy, I've committed some sort of mortal sin. And I said to him, 'Why don't you let Dung stay in your flat?' and he said that the landlord wouldn't like it. God." He reached the wall and started across the room again. "I'm beginning to think he's too immature to live with someone, but I don't want to think that, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I do," Remus said. His look grew thoughtful. "You know, I think he's always been a bit immature, now that I think about it. It isn't immediately visible - he takes on so much responsibility - but he's really quite young." His eyes went back into focus. "Emotionally, I think you're older than he is."

"Probably."

"That doesn't mean you can't be with him, though." The distant look returned. "It doesn't mean that at all."

Oliver wondered if he ought to have disturbed Remus in the first place. Perhaps it had been unkind.


Author notes: Next chapter: Oliver's story continues.