For The Golden Snitch Forum's 'Tiggerific Times!', using the prompt of Oliver Wood, putting me at a total of 10 points for Horned Serpent, Ilvermorny

520 words by google docs

He was doing it again.

Oliver was muttering, hunched over his desk, reading Quidditch notes. Typical. Each time Oliver muttered, Percy hissed under his breath, just to annoy him back. All of the sudden, there was silence. Not that Percy didn't like the silence, but Oliver was always muttering. What was wrong with him?

Percy turned around and risked a glance at him. Oliver was sitting straight up, not moving.

"Oliver?" he asked to his roommate's back. No answer. "Oliver? Are you okay?" When there again wasn't an answer, Percy got up and decided to see for himself what was going on. Oliver wasn't looking at Quidditch plans like Percy had though, he was hunched over a very detailed drawing of two people kissing, one of them obviously Oliver. Percy thought he recognized the other person in the picture— maybe a Gryffindor a few years below them— but he couldn't place the name.

"What's the matter?" Percy said, feeling as if he'd intruded on something very personal.

"I've just realised something," Oliver answered, looking very shocked. "I love her?"

Oliver sounded as if he was asking a question, not quite sure if he actually loved whoever he was talking about.

"Who? That girl in the drawing?" Percy asked, not any less confused. Oliver looked at the drawing on his desk, still looking dazed, and nodded.

"Katie," he said, dreamily. "I think I love her."

Percy couldn't help it— he started to laugh.

"That's what putting you in this state? A girl?" Percy thought it was something truly dreadful— a family death, a 'T' on an assignment, something like that. But a girl? What a silly thing to be dazed over. Oliver scowled at Percy.

"You're not so slick yourself, whenever you're with Penelope." Oliver drew out the name, teasing him. A blush creeped up Percy's neck, turning his face a deep shade of red.

"That's- that's- that's different!" Percy stuttered.

"And why's that?"

"Because at least I had the balls to ask her out! You're just drooling from the sidelines!"

Oliver opened his mouth as if to say something, but changed his mind and turned back to his drawing.

"How'd you do it?" Oliver asked the question so quietly, Percy wasn't even sure if it was asked in the first place.

"Do what?"

"How'd you get the courage to ask her out?"

"I just sucked it up. I was tired of waiting for some unseen force to bring us together, so I brought us together by my own means."

Oliver ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in several places.

"Well…" Oliver said, thinking hard about something. Percy waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Well, what?" he prompted.

"Well maybe you could help me."

"Help you?" Percy drew back a little bit, shocked. "Help you with what?"

"Asking Katie out. I'm also tired of waiting but I don't know how to do it myself. I don't know if I even can do it by myself. Just give me a little help?"

Percy searched Oliver's face and saw a lovesick puppy looking back at him.

"Okay."