So, fellow fans, I have quite possibly lost my mind a little... since I'm in the middle of another multi-chapter story and this is kind of coming from nowhere? Idk if anybody would seriously be interested in reading something about Percy Weasley and Oliver Wood... seems like the most ridiculous thing ever... but here we are because I saw something on Pinterest and this sounds like it has potential for greatness.

Anyways. This is an AU. Obviously. I haven't decided if Percy is still going to date Penelope Clearwater in his sixth/seventh year? I think? But the actual plot of Harry Potter- aside from half the stuff Percy does, probably- will still be the same. After writing this chapter, I've realized that these characters are a little OOC- at the moment. So I might just have them change from 1st to 5th Year- because everyone changes as they grow up- or I might leave them OOC. I haven't decided yet.

Also this is like a ship of Oliver and Percy, which I know sounds crazy but scroll to the bottom- where I typed the pin because links don't work on this website- and take a look at the pin if you're interested lol and you might be drawn in like I was.

Hopefully Tumblr serves me well?

Side note: Most chapters won't be this long- I just needed to cram a lot into their first year. But after this, they'll probably be closer to 5,000 words... not 8,000 like this one.

(Also this chapter opens in Molly's point of view because why not?)

Chapter One- The One Where Percy Was Rude

First Year, September 1st

"Percy!" called Molly Weasley, struggling to keep track of all of her children. "Oh, no, Fred, George, don't- wait GET THAT SPIDER AWAY FROM RON!" she yelled, swatting away the poor creature- oh, did her sons love getting in trouble- and turned to the only one of her sons that was normal. She loved them all equally, but Percy was usually the easiest of the lot to tame. "Right, now, dear- no, Ginny, you can't eat that! Honestly, Fred, feeding your little sister a worm?" Molly scolded, turning her very best glare on her son. Turning back to Percy with a smile, she continued, ignoring the sound of squelching as one of her seven children stepped on the worm. "Have you got everything? Remember, I made you sandwiches-"

"Yes, I know, Mum, I'll eat them later. And I'll study hard, don't worry. See you at Christmas," said one of her taller red-headed children, leaning over the cart containing Charlie and Bill's trunks to kiss her on the cheek. Molly beamed at her son- already wearing his robes and everything!

"Bye, Mum," said Charlie, beckoning Bill over as he heaved Percy's trunk onto the train. "Please make my Christmas sweater blue this year?"

Molly grinned. "I'll try, dear," she promised, knowing full well that she was blatantly lying. Sweater colors were decided at birth and they weren't open for changes. "Promise me you'll stay out of trouble," she said more sternly, raising her voice a little. "I don't want to send any more Howlers." Charlie blanched a little.

"Yeah, of course, Mum," said her son quickly. He turned away, muttering to George, "You let a few nifflers loose in a classroom one time."

Molly grabbed Ginny's hand as her daughter squealed and nearly ran into the path of a high-speed trolley with a screeching owl on top of it. "Oh, Bill, you really should have let me cut your hair," Molly sighed, frowning at her son's shoulder-length locks.

Bill shook his head, grinning. "Not a chance, Mum."

"Oh, you should, Charlie!" said Fred enthusiastically. Molly rounded on Charlie, narrowing her eyes.

"Whatever the twins have just told you to do, Charles Weasley, don't you dare!" Molly said, grabbing Ron's hand now as he also nearly got hit by a trolley- dear God, what kind of maniacs were running around trying to behead her children?

"Come on, Mum, we were just telling him to do well on his exams!" said George innocently. An identical face popped out from behind him.

"And to send us a Hogwarts toilet seat after he'd done it," snickered Fred.

"Boys!" groaned Molly as four of her children started yelling at each other. Honestly... next year Arthur could drop off the kids.

The train blew its horn loudly. "All right, bye, Bill, don't do anything the twins have told you to do, Charlie, and bye, Percy, dear!" she yelled after her sons as they scurried onto the train. Her remaining children proceeded to cry after their siblings- well, in Ginny's case, at least- which was sweet but started getting on her nerves after a while. That combined with that horrible loud horn the train was blowing was enough to make her relieved when Arthur apparated in. "Here," she said, handing him Ron and Ginny's hands to hold.

"Oh, did I miss the boys?" Arthur said, disappointed. "Sorry, Molly, the boss wouldn't let me leave."

Molly grabbed Fred and George's hands and waved off their protests. "Mum, we're old enough to walk on our own-"

"You're old enough when I know for a fact that you won't try to run after the train as soon as I let you go," Molly cut in.

And they all watched as the Hogwarts Express rolled away for another year, the last of the billowing smoke behind it fading as they headed home.

First Year, September 1st

"Got everything, dear?" asked his mother. Oliver nodded impatiently, looking around at the huge station and the milling families saying goodbye.

"Is... is dad here?" Oliver asked quietly.

"He's busy today, Ollie," his mother said, looking away with that sad look in her gray eyes. Oliver looked as well, but all he saw was the gray ceiling of the platform above him.

His mother sighed, muttering something to herself that had his father's name in it. She pulled him in for another hug, grinning tiredly when Oliver finally pulled away. "Have fun at school, Ollie. Hogwarts... it's going to be one of your favorite places in the world."

Oliver rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "I... am I still going to dad's for Christmas?" he asked hopefully, his heart sinking when his mother only looked at him sadly. She was sad so often now...

"You overheard us talking, didn't you?" his mom asked. Oliver nodded silently at his boots. "Sorry, Oliver, but he's going to be busy this year-"

"Busy?" Oliver said, looking up again and clenching his fists. His face was starting to turn red. "Every year, Mum? The last time I even went to his place was four years ago. He... he just doesn't want me around anymore, does he?" Oliver said, fighting the lump in his throat. He bit the inside of his cheek. He was not going to cry. Tears meant embarrassing emotions and everything... and Oliver didn't want that to be the case.

"Oliver-" his mother began, taking a step towards him. The train blew its steam whistle, and Oliver took the opportunity. He turned on his heel and ran, feeling his stomach twist guiltily at how sad his mother was going to be. But he kept running- it was lucky they'd already loaded his trunk. He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and raced up the steps onto the train, stumbling into the corridor.

Eyes burning, he hardly noticed where he was going and smacked into someone a couple of inches taller than him. Stumbling back, he looked up slightly at a boy with dark red hair and huge, hazel eyes that blinked in surprise behind black glasses. As Oliver stared very bravely at the stranger's shoes, he saw that his robes were a tad too small for him. "So-sorry," he stuttered.

"Watch where you're going," said the boy snootily before Oliver had even completely regained his balance, brushing past him with his nose in the air.

Oliver wrinkled his nose at the boy, heading in the opposite direction from him just for the sake of it. The train jolted and Oliver nearly fell again, bracing himself against the wall as the train started to move. "Bye!" he could hear students waving to their parents, and he felt stupidly sad again that he'd abandoned his mother on the platform like that.

He stumbled into a compartment, saw the backs of waving sixth-years, and ducked out again, shutting the door before they'd even realized he was there.

Feeling even more awkward, Oliver continued down the train, looking in the small windows before stumbling into another wrong compartment. He paused at one that looked like it had kids his age inside and opened it, looking at them through the hair hanging over his eyes. "Hello," he said, looking around at two boys- one with blond hair and another tall black-haired one- and one sleeping girl with her head leaning on the window. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

The black-haired boy waved him inside. "We stole this from her, anyways. I don't think she knows we're here."

"Snores a ridiculous amount, though," commented the blond as Oliver sat.

"So," said the tall one. "I'm Adrian Yew. What about you?"

The blond introduced himself as Mike Quentin, and they both turned expectantly to Oliver. Oliver ducked his head and mumbled "Oliver Wood." Thankfully, they heard him- most people didn't. He looked out the window, wishing he'd gotten a seat next to it- the girl and Mike were on the opposite bench while Adrian was by the window on theirs. Metropolitan London was gone now and countryside rolled by outside.

"Can't believe we're going to Hogwarts, right? Personally, I want Ravenclaw," Mike said, acting as though they'd all been friends for years.

"Hmm... haven't really got a preference. My family are all Hufflepuffs, so I think I'd like to be something else- five siblings from the Yew family in one common room would be a disaster," grinned Adrian, flashing a crooked smile.

"I think I'd like Gryffindor," Oliver said. "Anything but Slytherin, honestly."

Silence fell over the compartment for a minute as everyone thought about what they'd been told and what minimal amounts of the war they remembered from years ago.

"Reckon I agree," Adrian said darkly. "Had an uncle in Slytherin about two decades ago... he said half of them were nutters and the other half were terrified of the nutters."

"It's crazy to think about... how it hasn't even been a decade since the war ended," said Mike quietly.

There was another silence at this, one where Oliver remembered his uncle on his father's side- he'd died in the war as well. He wondered if the others were thinking about that, too- they all seemed pureblood of half-blood at least and had probably lost relatives as well.

For a moment some kind of deja vu hit him and he thought about how weird it was to live in a world where everyone had lost relatives- that it was normal to have attended over ten or fifteen funerals in the last decade.

The silence was, thankfully, broken by the girl sitting next to Mike suddenly shooting up in her seat and making all three boys jump as well. She relaxed after a second, then looked around and started again. "Sorry..." she said incredulously. "Am I hallucinating or are there three boys sitting in my compartment?"

All three of them burst out laughing, even Oliver. Maybe it was possible to forget about his parents for a while, at least while he had Hogwarts and magic and new friends to entertain himself with. "No, we're actually here, sorry," Mike laughed. "I'm Mike."

She smiled at him and introduced herself as Sam. "Not Sammy, not Samantha," she cautioned them.

"Okay, Not-Sammy, I'm Adrian," the other boy said.

"I'm Oliver," Oliver said, starting to lift his hand out of his pocket to wave. He stopped himself, realizing that would probably look very stupid.

"All right, now that I know your names, we're best buds and I'm stealing all of your food," Sam announced. Everyone roared with laughter again, and Adrian pulled out some chocolate.

Oliver eagerly held out his hand. "If chocolate is involved, then I'm joining your heist," he announced. To his relief, everyone laughed at his joke and Adrian handed him a big piece. Biting into it, he watched as Mike began to talk.

"All right, what were we talking about?" Mike asked, stuffing the whole piece in his mouth at once.

"The war..." Adrian said, trailing off as their candy turned sour in their mouths.

Oliver noticed that Sam paled, her face white against her golden curls. Quickly, he decided to step in, still looking at Sam. "Let's talk about something happier. The war's over, and we're going to Hogwarts, right, so we have a ton to be worried about," Oliver joked. Maybe Sam had just lost someone very close to her or something. Talk of the war made a lot of people uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Mike said a little more seriously, "I heard we have to do some super-hard spell to get sorted," he said, leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially as if this was a huge secret.

Adrian burst out laughing. "God, who lied to you?" he asked between chuckles.

Mike looked annoyed. "No one," he countered. "It's true-"

"That's a load of rubbish," Adrian said, chuckling. "We have to fight two mountain trolls," he said, becoming serious very abruptly.

Mike paled, and Oliver struggled not to burst out laughing. "It's true, Mike," Oliver said sympathetically.

As Mike turned slightly green, Sam whacked Adrian, then Oliver over the head with a copy of the Daily Prophet that Oliver hadn't noticed she had. Adrian ducked down, wincing, and so did Oliver. "Stop scaring the poor bloke!" she scolded.

Oliver couldn't resist it- he started laughing, and then all of them did, even Mike, who finally realized his leg was being pulled.

As they finally sobered up, Adrian said between slight giggles, "I don't know what it is we have to do, but we're sure as hell not fighting mountain trolls," he said, and that set them off again.

"And even if we do," Sam said, "We're sacrificing Adrian first, right?"

Oliver nodded. "Absolutely," he assured her quite seriously.

And they went on for ages, describing various odd scenarios that they'd have to do.

By the time they got off the train, they were debating between hexing Dumbledore- "They wouldn't make us hurt the headmaster!" Mike protested- and jumping into the lake as a test- "But the squid's down there," said Adrian with a measure of fear.

Oliver didn't care what it is was- if all these generations of kids could do it, then surely he could as well- but as they were approached by Hagrid to board the boats, he had this warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Something told him he'd just made some friends- maybe some really good friends.

"Firs' years!" Hagrid called. They all shuffled up to him and he led them to the boats as Adrian and Sam continued bickering in whispers. Mike skirted around them and started walking next to Oliver.

"I bet you they're dating by sixth year," Mike said in a whisper, looking back at the arguing kids. Oliver gave them a good, long look and shook his head.

"Ten galleons on fifth year," he said confidently.

"That's not fair, that gives you five years to work with!"

"How about we only pay up if it happens during those year? First, second, third, fourth, or seventh and the deal's off," Oliver said.

Mike shrugged. "As of when we're sixteen, you will be ten galleons poorer," he announced. Oliver rolled his eyes but grinned.

The boat journey was amazing- and Hogwarts was beautiful. All those towers and turrets and everything- Oliver almost expected it to have a moat. It didn't, of course, and they trekked across the grassy field in front of it to reach two large doors.

As Hagrid knocked, everyone went back to talking. Sam was shaking out her hair from where Adrian had nearly pushed her off the boat and glaring at said boy, who was slowly backing away from her scary expression.

Oliver laughed at the pair of them and raised an eyebrow at Adrian. "You shouldn't let her get near you after she learns how to use a wand," he advised.

Adrian looked at Oliver fearfully. "Mate, I don't think I want her near me now, either."

The door swung open and everyone immediately stopped talking as they were met by the stern face of Professor McGonagall. She advised them to clean themselves up a little and led them into the Entrance Hall to wait.

"This school's just a lot of waiting, isn't it?" said Sam, tapping her foot impatiently.

Mike shrugged. "I mean, it's got secret passages, so..."

Adrian lit up. "Secret passages?"

Before Mike could elaborate, McGonagall showed up again and everyone shut their mouths.

Exchanging nervous glances, they all headed into the Great Hall. It was huge, with candles hovering in the air above them. Oliver felt very small in front of the gaze of thousands of older, smarter, and taller students. There were four long tables of gawking kids, and there they were in the middle.

McGonagall, who was leading the group, set a stool on the ground at the front of the room, then went off to sit at the high table, which had all of the teachers sitting there. Oliver craned his neck to try to get a glimpse of the legendary Dumbledore, but jumped when the hat started singing.

Oliver exchanged a very confused glance with Sam and turned back to watch as it sang about houses and sorting and Hogwarts. As it finished, he clapped with the rest and shook his head in disappointment. "After everything we were talking about this afternoon, I wanted it to be something more exciting," he said, albeit relieved. Putting a hat on his head was much easier than some of the things they'd dreamed up.

"Hey, it was this or mountain trolls," Adrian said out of the corner of his mouth, grinning.

Oliver shook his head, laughing.

Students started getting called up, trying on the Hat, and getting sorted. The first from their group was Sam, right at the beginning. "Avery, Samantha!" McGonagall called, and Sam stepped up to the Hat, looking small amidst all of the older students. She jammed it on her head and the Hall waited as it debated over her.

Nearly thirty seconds later, it made its decision. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted, and Sam tugged it off with a huge grin, skipping off to the Gryffindor table. Mike, Adrian, and Oliver clapped with the rest, cheering.

On and on it went, until Mike's name was called. His face looked slightly green as he shot Oliver a fearful glance and trudged across the hall. But he really had nothing to worry about- the hat announced him as a Gryffindor the moment it touched his head.

Oliver clapped and cheered for him as well, his stomach a fluttery mess as he realized that the W's weren't far off now. Occasionally, the swarms of butterflies were interrupted by a grumble of hunger as his eyes passed over all the empty plates in front of the students around him.

"Weasley, Percy!" called McGonagall after a few more minutes, and Oliver narrowed his eyes as he saw the rude boy from the train saunter up to the hat and set it on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Ugh," Oliver muttered, clapping half-heartedly with the rest.

And then, scarcely twenty seconds later, after two more kids had been sorted- "Wood, Oliver!"

Oliver gulped and shuffled across the hall as Adrian shot him a reassuring glance. He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he left the crowd of students and stood alone in front of the hat. He slowly picked it up and sat on the stool, grateful when it slid over his head and the brim blocked the stares of the whole hall. "Ah," said the Hat, and Oliver jumped. "You've got some ambition here, Slytherin wouldn't be a bad fit... Hufflepuff would suit you as well- I see loyalty in your head."

Oliver's heart was racing. Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor... he thought furiously, scrunching his eyes shut.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced obligingly, and Oliver couldn't help but grin as he tugged it off and put it back on the stool. His heart leaped as everyone cheered for him, and he dropped into a seat across from Mike and next to Sam at the Gryffindor table, his face breaking into an even larger grin as the cheering went on.

Everything seemed to move very fast after that. Adrian was swiftly sorted into Gryffindor, and before Oliver knew it- still basking in the happiness of his Sorting- Dumbledore was standing up and motioning for silence.

A hush fell over the hall as the tall, silver-haired wizard smiled at them all. "Another year at Hogwarts! Ah, it pleases me to see all of you again. I look forward to seeing you all learn and grow- and, of course, enjoy our Hogwarts feasts!" With a flourish, he waved his wand, and food appeared on all the plates in front of them.

Oliver didn't hesitate. He piled chicken and bread and slices of pie onto his plate as the murmurs of talking began once more in the Great Hall. "So that was Dumbledore," Mike said musingly. "Sort of... underwhelming?"

Oliver looked reproachfully at him. "But he's such a powerful wizard!"

"Yes, but apparently he wears bonnets to Christmas feasts," Sam giggled.

None of them could contain their laughter at that.

First Year, September 1st

On the other end of the Gryffindor table sat two other kids- Percy Weasley and Anthony Fawcett. At the moment, Percy was gazing adoringly up at Dumbledore and rambling on to a glassy-eyed Anthony about how he was going to become Minister of Magic after he graduated. "-and, of course, I'm planning on trying to fix the Statute of Secrecy by-laws, they're really quite old-fashioned and don't accommodate modern Muggle technology-"

"Percy?" Anthony said through a mouthful of treacle tart. "Give it a rest, mate, it's only been an hour since we got here. How about we worry about more urgent things instead? Such as how many treacle tarts I can shove in my mouth at once."

Percy raised an eyebrow. He'd known Anthony before coming to Hogwarts- they lived in the same neighborhood- but they'd met on the train and sort of reconnected again. But Anthony was turning out to be just like everyone else- disinterested in Percy's 'blabbering'. "All right," Percy sighed. "I bet it's not more than two."

Anthony grinned cheekily and set to work. "It's six!" he announced proudly as Percy rolled his eyes and picked at his chicken.

The time flew by as Percy relaxed a little more and started talking to Anthony. It turned out that the blond-haired, brown-eyed boy had more in common with Percy than he'd originally thought- and Percy was glad to hope that they could really be friends.

Before he knew it, Dumbledore was dismissing them all- "Can you imagine being as powerful as Dumbledore?" Anthony said dreamily- and they were following a Prefect across the Great Hall.

Percy turned to Anthony as they went. "Do you know when they give us schedules? I hope we don't have too many classes with the Slytherins," Anthony shuddered.

"Next morning, I think. And I ag-" Percy hurriedly caught himself against the edge of the table as a boy slightly shorter than him knocked into him. "Oh it's you," he scoffed, brushing off his robes. "Honestly, how many times are we going to knock into each other?"

The boy looked coldly at him. "As many times as it takes for you to stop being clumsy," he said with a shrug, blue eyes already flicking away to a tall, black-haired boy who was waving him over.

"Who was that?" Anthony asked as they entered the drafty Entrance Hall and began making their way up the marble staircase.

"Oh, just some idiot from the train," Percy said coolly. "Anyways, what were we talking about?"

Within minutes, they'd arrived at Gryffindor tower. "This is the entrance to our common room," said the Prefect. Percy wasn't that much shorter than him, but his gleaming badge and brand-new robes were intimidating on their own- at least for Percy. The Prefect was pointing at a painting of a lady that was... slightly overweight. "This is the Fat Lady." There were some sniggers. "Just tell her the password and she'll let you in to the common room. Now, the password's Amortentia."

With that, the portrait swung open and everyone clambered through, oohing and aahing at the common room. "Looks like this is where we're living for the next seven years," Anthony said, looking admiringly at the cozy red chairs and warm, candlelit glow.

"Boys dormitories are up there," the Prefect said, pointing to a staircase on the left side of the room. "Girls are right up there," he said, pointing to another staircase that began a few yards off from the first. "All right, up you go. Breakfast's at eight, and you've got classes tomorrow- don't stay up too long!" he called after them as everyone began stumbling over each other to reach the staircases.

Percy and Anthony took their time- "We'll get stampeded if we go now,"- and were one of the last people to make their way up to the dormitories.

When they entered their room at the very top of Gryffindor tower, they found that there were three boys already in it. "I'm Adrian Yew," said the black-haired one Percy had seen in the Great Hall.

"Percy Weasley," he said. "And, you are?" he asked another blond boy.

"Mike Quentin, and this is Oliver Wood," said the boy with a grin, pointing at the boy from the train Percy had been repeatedly running into.

He was currently crouching over a pile of trunks. "Here's yours, Mike, and I think this is mine?" said Oliver Wood. "Oh, no, is there an Anthony Fawcett in here?" Anthony came forward and hefted up his trunk- and then nearly dropped it on Percy's foot.

He yelped and jumped back. "I think I'd like to be able to walk to class tomorrow, mate," Percy said, glaring at the offending trunk.

"Need some help?" asked Oliver Wood in what looked like a decidedly shy manner. Anthony accepted it gratefully and the two managed to drag it to a bed near the doorway.

Adrian headed off to the bathroom, and Mike stood staring between two beds near the window. "Left or right?" he asked Percy. "I can't decide."

Percy tilted his head in thought. "I'll take right, if that's okay?"

"Sure," Mike grinned. "So, Percy- you're what? The fourth Weasley at this school?"

Percy sighed as he dramatically flopped onto the bed he'd chosen, pushing back the hangings. "Third," he said. "And there are four more to come."

Mike's jaw dropped. "You're joking."

"I'm not really much for jokes," Percy assured him.

"Are all of you as cool as I've heard Charlie and Bill are?" Adrian asked, emerging from the bathroom. Percy frowned.

"If you knew what I know about them, you wouldn't think they were cool," Percy said, remembering the time Charlie had thought it would be funny to nearly burn Percy's Hogwarts letter. "You'd think they were crazy."

"But Charlie Weasley's the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen," Adrian said pointedly. "I don't think it matters if he's crazy, mate- it just matters how good he continues to be at Quidditch."

"Nah," Percy said. "Charlie once caught a cornish pixie and brought it into our house. Then it nearly bit Ginny's finger off."

There was a bit of a silence. "You know, Percy, I think this conversation means that we're friends now," said Mike cheerily after a few moments.

Percy's face split into a grin. "As long as you help me study."

Mike and Adrian laughed. "I thought you said you weren't much for jokes," Mike said.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't joking."

First Year, September 2nd

Oliver was late. Dreadfully late.

Breakfast had been quick- they'd even left early. And, now, here they were- looking for Snape's classroom twenty minutes after the class had started. "Oliver, we already looked over here," Sam sighed.

"Yeah, I think we'd better try that way," Mike said, pointing to another corridor.

"That one looks too scary to have a potions classroom in it-"

"Oh, don't be a wimp, Adrian, we've looked everywhere else!"

Oliver heard a meow. "Guys," he said with mounting horror, turning to see Mrs. Norris staring at them. "We may have a problem."

"Run!" Sam yelled, and they turned to do just that and came face to face with Filch.

"Ah, first years cutting class, I see," drawled the caretaker, looking far too pleased to have students to punish. Oliver paled as Professor Snape emerged from the very same corridor Adrian had said was scary- now that the hook-nosed teacher was coming from it, it certainly was terrifying.

"I'll take care of this, Argus," Snape said, looking even more happy to have caught them like this. "I just wanted to let you know that there's been a bit of a disturbance a few classrooms down. Something about a potion spill?"

Filch trudged off, muttering underneath his breath about unfairness. "Now," Snape said, turning to them and narrowing his eyes. "Where have you all been?"

Oliver gulped. "We got lost, sir," he said in a small voice.

"Lost? Well, I certainly hope you'll be able to find your way to the detention you're getting tonight," Snape sneered.

As Oliver stifled a groan- detention on his first day? Really?- a redhead swept around the corner of the corridor, looking as important as ever. "Have you found him, Professor Snape? I- what are you all doing here?" Percy asked, cutting himself off mid-sentence as he took in the scene.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. Return to the classroom," Snape ordered, waving all five of them off. They didn't hesitate, hurrying behind Percy.

"Have you all got detention?" Percy asked when they were out of earshot of Snape.

Adrian nodded. "And it's not like it's fair, they didn't give us a map to this place- and it's a literal castle."

Percy shrugged and paused next to the door. "This is the classroom. In case you guys get lost again."

"Shouldn't we... go inside?" Oliver asked.

"We would, but class is about to end, so-" And then came the bell and, with it, a swarm of students pouring out of the door. They all shuffled back to let everyone pass.

"Technically, we did cut class, then," Oliver said, half-joking but half-miserable. "Who were you looking for?" he asked Percy, trying to change the subject.

Still frowning and looking as though he wasn't very happy about answering, he said, "The caretaker- Argus Filch. Professor Snape wanted to talk to him."

Mike shook his head. "I was actually looking forward to Potions."

"With that git that just gave us detention?" Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think you should be saying that about teachers," Percy said pointedly.

"Come off it, we've got detention on the first day thanks to him!" Oliver said more forcefully than he usually said anything, feeling a little foolish when Percy only frowned.

As all the students passed, they began to follow. Percy caught up to Anthony Fawcett- a boy Oliver had met yesterday in their dormitories- and they began talking- all the boys plus Sam.

"Oh, who is this?" asked Anthony as Sam came up next to Adrian.

"I'm Sam," she said with a smile. "You're Anthony Fawcett, right?"

Anthony nodded, but Percy was squinting at Sam as if there was something about her he couldn't work out. "What's your surname?"

Oliver thought Sam looked a little pale as she said "Avery."

Percy's eyes widened, and he took a little step back, falling back into conversation with Anthony but occasionally shooting suspicious glances at Sam. Oliver looked around, frowning, hoping to ask someone what was up with him- but no one else had noticed as Mike and Adrian started playing tug-of-war with Sam's bag and caused almost everything to spill out.

Oliver stooped to help clean it up, glaring at Adrian, who'd ripped the bag in the first place. As they shoved quills and parchment back into it, he frowned after Percy. Why was he so wary of Sam?

First Year, November 10th

"Queen to B3," said Adrian with a self-satisfied smirk. "Checkmate."

Oliver groaned and fell back against his chair. "That's the fifth time in a row!"

He could practically hear Adrian's grin. "Admit it. I'm the best at wizard's chess, Ollie."

Oliver sat up and shot Adrian a surly look. "Oh, yes, we all bow down to the king of telling pawns what to do," he said over-dramatically. They were relaxing in the common room on a cloudy afternoon, huddling by the fireplace as wind whistled outside the tightly shut windows in the tower.

In the few months that had passed since the school year had begun, Oliver had grown even closer to Mike, Adrian, and Sam. They went everywhere together, did everything together, and recently, they'd played way too much chess together.

His classes were fun- as fun as they could be with Snape constantly finding ways to punish them and McGonagall piling on the homework- his friends were great, and his favorite season- winter- was about to arrive. Life was great.

The only black mark on the horizon was Oliver's father- who hadn't replied to any of the five letters he'd sent him.

Trying not to think about that, he turned his attention to Adrian's gloating, about to tell him to put a sock in it. Three months ago, Oliver might have sat there quietly. But he was learning that he wasn't half as awkward as he'd thought himself to be, living in a small town miles from London for the first eleven years of his life with only his mother and a few other families for wizarding company. Everyone there had been older than him and had liked to make fun of him- but after making better friends, Oliver was starting to figure out that nobody here was going to tease him for talking more.

As he told Adrian to stop the gloating- and advised him to take a swim with the squid if he was that interested in acting like one- he winced at the sound of Percy Weasley's frantic reciting- which could be heard throughout the common room. "Doesn't that Weasley ever give it a rest?" Oliver groaned. "I swear, he acts like his NEWTS are tomorrow, the way he studies."

Adrian snorted. "By the sounds of it, he's listing potion ingredients. Our next Potions test is three weeks from now."

Percy Weasley was probably a nice kid. Really. But between the constant studying- which was loud and gave people headaches- and the annoying bossiness and know-it-all attitude, most of their year had decided to avoid him. Anthony Fawcett was sticking it out and being nearly as insufferable as Percy for it, but everyone else had taken a few steps back after attending about two classes with him and realizing that he was one of the worst teacher's pets to ever enroll at Hogwarts.

"All right, come on. I think it's time for dinner."

First Year, November 10th

Oliver stretched as he got up from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, making a face at the storm clouds hovering in the enchanted ceiling. He yawned as he looked around at all of his friends. "I don't want classes to start again tomorrow," he groaned. "Weekends must last forever."

"Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that," Mike sighed. "Or else it'd be Christmas every day and I'd get presents all the time."

They all got up as Adrian continued the complaining for them. "I wish I could get excused from homework, at least," he grumbled.

"The only person who's ever going to get excused from homework is Harry Potter," Sam said pointedly. They all laughed but went quiet as they passed out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall, thoughts of the war invading their heads again.

"He's only, what, six?" Oliver asked. "Harry Potter, I mean."

"I know," Sam said, shaking her head. "How'd he defeat You-Know-Who?" she said in a small voice. "When he was only one year old?"

"Who knows?" Adrian asked. "Just thank Merlin that he did."

"Oh, I don't know, Adrian, I bet your friend there knows a bit more about the war than you do," said a voice from behind them. They turned to find Percy Weasley glaring at Sam.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked. At this point, more people were gathering around to watch as Percy and Anthony, of course, right next to him, faced against Oliver, Sam, Mike, and Adrian.

"I mean her family. Her surname. I thought for sure you'd know by now?" Percy asked, looking somewhere between smug and shocked.

"No," Adrian said, the look on his face unreadable. "I don't know what you mean."

"Avery. It's a pureblood surname, they're on the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Not to mention it's either her father or her uncle who's serving a life sentence in Azkaban," Percy scoffed. "They're Death Eaters, the lot of them."

Oliver's heart skipped a beat as everyone- him, Mike, Adrian, and all the kids watching- turned to look at Sam, some accusing and some curious. Sam looked petrified. "I-" she stammered, looking back and forth between them and Percy, who was staring her down as if this was a duel.

"Sam? Is this true?" Adrian asked fiercely.

Sam took one look at the expression on his face, turned on her heel, and sprinted down the hall and up the stairs before anyone else could move.

There was another silence as everyone comprehended what had just happened.

Then, a lot of things happened at once. Adrian, after hesitating for a few moments, ran after her, Mike drew his wand, and the entire crowd gasped as Oliver took two steps forward and slapped Percy Weasley across the face.

"What the bloody hell?!" Percy screamed as the crowd grew larger and larger. Oliver's fists were clenched- it would be so easy to punch him at this point- and he felt a hot bubble of anger in his stomach. There was a red mark blossoming across his face, and the look of incredulity on his face gave Oliver some measure of satisfaction.

"You deserved it," Oliver said in a low voice, surprised by how angry he really was- and how scary he sounded, to himself at least. "Sam's not a Death Eater! That was a horrible thing to do, Weasley," he spat his surname out like it was poison on his tongue.

"Oh, are we doing surnames now? Fine, Wood, I'm going to McGonagall!" Percy yelled, two bright spots of color blooming on his cheeks.

"I don't care," Oliver said fiercely, turning to leave. "Go ahead, be a snitch. I'm going to go make sure that my friend is okay," he said with a last glare over his shoulder.

Even as he hurried up the steps with Mike, his hands remained clenched into fists and his expression remained furious. "Oliver," Mike said, panting as they reached the top of the steps. "That was the greatest thing I've ever seen!"

Oliver managed a grim smile. "It was satisfying," he admitted. "But you don't think Sam is really...?"

Mike immediately shook his head. "Maybe that's her family. But she's not her father."

Oliver nodded as they rushed to Gryffindor tower. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure anyone has ever really told her that," he sighed.

They reached the Fat Lady, stammered out the password, and rushed into the portrait hole to find Adrian and Sam standing by the fireplace, Sam looking on the verge of tears.

Oliver sprinted over. "You all right, Sam?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I- none of you hate me now, right?" she asked desperately, looking more distressed than Oliver had ever seen her.

"Of course not," Mike said as if it was obvious. "We would never hate you. That prat Weasley has no idea what he's talking about," he said with a glare off into the distance.

Adrian nodded vigorously. "You're our friend, Sam. We're not going to hate you because of your family."

Sam gave them a watery smile. "Thanks, guys," she said, and they all hugged her at once.

After pulling back a little awkwardly, they sat by the fireplace quietly for a while, everyone thinking. As the shock wore off from everything, Oliver was starting to feel utterly terrified. "Mike, McGonagall's going to expel me!"

Mike looked up with a goofy grin. "I reckon she'll just take off a few points, maybe give you a detention," he said reasonably. "But, still, Ollie- best thing I've ever seen!"

Oliver allowed himself a grin as well. "I think I'd do it again- just to see the look on his face," he snickered.

At that moment, the portrait hole swung open and Percy Weasley stumbled in- the red mark on his face even more pronounced than it was before. He shot Oliver a look of pure hatred before storming across the room and up into their dormitory.

"Now seems like a good time as any to ask," Adrian began, and Oliver turned his attention to him, a smile growing on his face once more. "What exactly did you do, Oliver?"

"He decked him across the face!" Mike piped up. "In front of the whole school!"

Sam sat up and looked incredulously at Oliver. "You did what?"

"It wasn't the whole school," Oliver protested.

"Mate, I wish I could have seen that!" Adrian groaned. "That's got to be the highlight of our first year- and I missed it!"

Sam burst into a fit of giggles. "I have never been prouder of you, Ollie," she said between laughs.

And then they were all laughing.

First Year, June 29th

Percy grabbed the ends of his shirt sleeves tightly, trying to warm up his cold hands- how he could be cold in June was beyond him, but he'd always been like this. He already missed his robes- and it had only been about five minutes since he'd gotten on the train.

The Hogwarts Express was heading back to London for the summer break- and Percy was both dreading it and anticipating it. His brothers and sister were absolutely insane and a pain to be around at the best of times, but he couldn't deny that he had missed them during his months at Hogwarts.

"Perce!" came the call from Anthony, who had presumably gotten them a compartment. That was certainly better than wandering these empty corridors.

"Coming!" Percy called back. He set off down the hall As he went, one of the doors next to him slid open and Oliver Wood and Mike Quentin tumbled out, nearly slamming into Percy. He could already feel himself bristling, just at the sight of them, and he knew it wasn't real, but his cheek seemed to feel prickly where Wood had slapped it.

Any mention of that incident was enough to make him fume, even nearly seven months after it had originally happened. He could still hear everyone's laughter in his ears, see that smug look on Quentin's face as he looked admiringly at Wood.

"What d'you want?" asked Wood nastily. Percy had once thought he was a quiet kid- that certainly hadn't turned out to be true.

"Can't a person walk here? You don't own the train, Wood," Percy said just as coldly.

Wood just sneered, and Percy's anger ignited again. They'd run into each other- sometimes literally- a few times since the day in the Entrance Hall, and every time it had ended with someone storming off- usually Percy as Wood used his single remaining brain cell to annoy the hell out of him.

"Don't act like you're so much better than me- it's not like your family's got enough money to buy the train," Wood said, ducking back into his compartment before Percy could respond.

That smarmy git. Percy resisted looking down at his threadbare shirt, storming off instead and hating the fact that his ears had undoubtedly turned red.

Next year, Percy was going to hex his socks off- and he didn't care how many House points he lost doing it.

THE LEGENDARY PIN:

"percy weasley and oliver wood were in the same year and house at hogwarts, i don't know why it's taken me so long to realise this but

- oh god they would be so annoying to live with

- both total perfectionists but about different things

- percy getting annoyed at oliver for revising his quidditch strategy when they had a test tomorrow

- percy acting smug because he's head boy, oliver firmly believing that being quidditch captain is much more important

- oliver happily aiding the twins in their pranks to get his own back at percy for not appreciating how important it is that he wins the cup

- their dorm mates getting totally fed up of the two of them stressing tirelessly

- 'oh my god we have an exam in three weeks i need to revise' ' oh my god i have a quidditch match soon and my team is not practicing hard enough'

(NEXT PERSON)

honestly, im surprised that none of the other gryffindor boys smothered them in their sleep

(NEXT PERSON)

Percy: MUD ON THE CARPET, MUD ON MY STAR CHART, MUD ON MY RAT-

Wood: But Quidditch

Percy: BUT ESSAYS?

Wood: I'm Quidditch Captain!

Percy: I'M HEAD BOY!

(Fred George and Lee in the dorm two years below take shots)

(NEXT PERSON)

... and suddenly I ship it."

Yeah... so that's the pin. This is what started the craziness. The story is going to take place mostly during their fifth year, so I'll just have four chapters for the four years before to lead up to it.

This is either going to be the worst thing I've ever written or the best thing.

My money's on worst. Let's hope that changes. If Drarry can be a thing that half the fandom ships... then this isn't even on the the list of top ten weirdest Harry Potter things lol. (No offense to anyone who ships Drarry tho)

Also did anyone see at the beginning where Molly refuses to change Charlie's sweater color? Idk, Ron's being maroon was like a HP inside joke so I wanted to put something about it in here lol.

Another note: PERCY IS NOT A JERK IN THIS STORY. If you read any part of this really long note- read that, please. I know he was really rude in this chapter, but keep in mind they're 11. Not only that, but as Oliver said, all of their year has already decided he's a know-it-all and everyone sort of resents him. Add that to him being sort of proud as a character, and then you get that scene where he's just being stupid. But he's not a horrible person, I promise.

Hope this chapter was enjoyable! The author's notes won't be so long next time- it's only long right now because it's the first chapter and I had some explaining to do.

See ya next time! Please review!

- Cupcakes Can Write Too