Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

He's A Keeper

Charlie Weasley sat alone in the corner booth, ignoring the few people still left in the pub. The weather outside had kept most people indoors, and those that had braved the weather to come to the Leaky Cauldron had done so because their need for liquor outweighed their common sense. Personally he'd booked a room at the inn while he was in London visiting his family, which had grown to the point where all of them staying at the Burrow just wasn't an option. And while he could have asked any number of people to put him up Charlie had to admit that he'd wanted the peace and quiet of the inn when he wasn't with his loved ones.

Normally he enjoyed being around people well enough, though he preferred dragons, but the holidays were always hard now. Now that Fred wasn't with them.

He couldn't stand to see his mother hurt at the best of times, least of all when she was crying over the loss of her son and trying desperately to hide that fact from her remaining children. And while he didn't mind her hiding her pain by complaining about his hair, his latest burns, or the tattoo she'd finally found out he'd gotten, he could only take so much before he wanted to lash out because he was hurting too.

So here he was, drinking with the full intention of doing so until he was ready to pass out on his bed upstairs and into oblivion. Not one of his greatest ideas, but he never slept well while in London anymore so he was going to need the help.

"Captain?"

It had been a long time since he'd been called that, especially by this particular voice. But he knew who it was even before the former Quidditch seeker looked up from his pilsner and into the face of the grown man that had been his keeper in his last year at Hogwarts. And though he really didn't feel much like smiling, he worked one up just the same. "Wotcher, Wood. Long time, no see."

Oliver studied his former Quidditch captain, taking in the slightly scruffy appearance and glaze over the man's usually bright eyes that indicated that the older man was on his way towards being drunk, though not quite there yet. But either way, he was glad that Tom had pointed Charlie out to him when he'd come down to get a drink, hoping that would help him sleep.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Have a seat."

Though he could see that the older man wasn't really looking for company Oliver sat anyway, not about to leave the man to drink alone. "So what brings you here on a night like this?"

"I'm staying here while I'm in the city. You?"

The keeper's lips curved ruefully. "The couple who live in the flat next to mine are newlyweds and she's just learning to cook. There was a little accident this afternoon while she was cooking and as a result I'm staying here for a couple days on them while our floor is fumigated."

"That bad?"

"That bad."

Chuckling in spite of himself, Charlie grinned and toasted the other man with his glass. "And people honestly can't understand why I've never married. You and me, we have more sense. Or are you married now, Wood?" He was pretty sure that someone would have told him by now if that were the case, but it was always possible. There had been four years between him and the younger man, so Wood hadn't been as close to him as the team members he still kept in contact with.

"No. No I'm not married." Clicking the glass he'd brought with him against his captain's, Oliver smiled. "So here's to us for having more common sense then the majority of people."

"I'll drink to that."

)

Waking up with a low grade headache, not at all unexpected given how much he'd drank the night before, Charlie slowly stared up at the top of his canopy bed, wondering why he felt oddly refreshed considering how he'd spent the evening. He'd expected to feel crappy, but he really didn't. Other than the faint ache in the back of his head he couldn't remember feeling this relaxed since he'd come back to London. And then the sensation of the mattress shifting under him, when he hadn't moved, clued the redhead into the fact that there might be a good reason why he was in such a pleasant frame of mood.

Oh shit. He'd gotten drunk and taken someone back to bed with him.

Wincing hard Charlie scrubbed both hands over his bristled face, mentally calling himself every kind of irresponsible, idiotic, stupid tosser that there ever was. He'd never been in this situation, and it was as horrible as he'd always thought it had to be. And he hadn't lived for twenty eight years without learning a lot of ways to berate one's self for acts of gross stupidity. Having Fred and George Weasley for younger brothers had guaranteed it.

But he wasn't a man who shied away from paying the price for his actions so the Gryffindor forced himself to turn his head and look down at who was occupying the place beside him.

"Oh fuck."

His whispered words seemed to echo in the room, but they didn't change the fact that stretched out on his stomach, naked at least from the waist up, was Oliver Wood.

And as much as the Gryffindor wanted to believe that they'd just fallen asleep together after drinking too much, he knew that wasn't the case because the more he stared at the younger man the faster his brain cleared and allowed memories from the night before to surface.

It wasn't all clear, he'd been fairly drunk after all, but he couldn't help or stop the flashes of memory that took over his thoughts.

In his head he could see the two of them rolling around naked on top of the covers, taking turns pinning each other in place for an exchange of passionate kisses before the other sought to take control of the foreplay.

The sight of the other man kissing his way down his chest, using his tongue to play connect the dots with some of his freckles.

And most damning of all…the image of Oliver under him as he thrusted into the other man, the sounds the man had made as he'd taken him fully inside him all but ringing in Charlie's ears as he groaned and instinctively covered them, as though he could block the memories so easily.

But of course he couldn't.

Looking back at the other man, who was still fast asleep, Charlie couldn't help but have the urge to get the hell out of there and pray like hell that the keeper had been too drunk last night to remember what they'd done once they'd gotten into his room. But of course this was his room, so that was out, not to mention the fact that he was pretty sure that Wood hadn't had nearly as much to drink as he had.

Huh.

Brows furrowing with that thought the redhead couldn't shake the feeling that while he'd been pretty drunk at the time Wood hadn't had more than that one glass, at least while he'd been with him. So why had things ended the way they had?

He couldn't remember who'd started things, that was a complete and total blur. It could have very well been him since he'd been drunk and wasn't at all opposed to taking a man to bed with him. Personally he'd always preferred the company of dragons to people of either gender, but when it came to sex he'd always found men to be preferable. So he could have jumped Wood, the man was pretty damn hot now, especially when he was naked. But if the man had been relatively sober then why hadn't Wood stopped him? He was physically stronger, but if the younger man had been unwilling he would have stopped, even drunk. No meant no after all.

Knowing the only way to get some answers was to ask the man himself Charlie took a deep, calming breath and then leaned over to shake Wood's shoulder.

)

Stirring under the shaking Oliver's eyes slowly opened, smiling sweetly up at Charlie until awareness came into them, the younger man twisting up to a sitting position as he met the other Gryffindor's stare head on, the movement revealing the fact that yes, the man was indeed naked under the sheet. Following the man's stare Oliver blushed and yanked the sheet back into place, cursing under his breath as he did so.

Charlie waited the other man out, remembering his own reaction to the situation, not at all sure what to make of the fact that the first words out of the man's lips were a whispered apology. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because…because I took advantage of you." Was the younger man's response, the self disgust ringing in Oliver's voice. "I'm so…what am I saying, there's nothing I could say that would…hell, letting you kick my ass wouldn't make up for this."

"What happened last night, Wood?" Charlie interrupted, knowing that they needed to get to the bottom of what had happened quickly for both of their sakes. "I remember enough to know you and I…that we had sex, but from what you're saying…did you put the moves on me?"

"No I…sorta…it's complicated." And obviously gathering his courage Oliver took a calming breath of his own before meeting Charlie's gaze squarely. "After we finished our last drinks I insisted on bringing you up here, and when you just sat on the bed I figured I'd help you at least get your shirt off since you weren't up to handling the buttons and…and you misinterpreted what I was doing and yanked me onto the bed and…and pinned me down and started snogging me. I should have stopped you, I could have, but I've wanted you for so long and it felt so good and I knew you knew it was me because you called me by my name…well my last name and…and there's no excuse. You were drunk and I wasn't. This is my fault, not yours."

Trying to process everything the man had just said Charlie blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Why would you want me so badly? You were just a kid when I left Hogwarts and we've only met up a handful of times since then."

"I always…well I really admired you, you were my hero at school and I fancied you the way you do with your first serious crush…but it changed that morning…after the battle." Oliver's gaze dropped down to his hands, twisting them in his grasp as he struggled to articulate what he wanted to get out. "After…I found a place to be by myself, I just couldn't…I could get through everything because I had to but after it was over and there wasn't a battle left to be fought, a task that needed to be completed I couldn't take it. I was leaning against the wall on my side…crying…unable not to remember how it felt to have…to have Colin Creevey's body draped over my shoulder, remembering how annoyed I'd get with him, interrupting our practices because he was so obsessed with taking pictures of Harry all the time. Even though I wasn't carry him anymore, the weight…and I just couldn't take it, knowing he was dead and…and Fred. Cause they weren't supposed to be." He had to pause for a moment then, clearing his throat as he composed himself again. "And then I…I felt a hand on my shoulder and I just broke. I turned around and there you were and I threw myself into your arms and you held me. Even though you'd lost so much more than I did you had it in you to hold me and be strong for me so that I didn't have to be. Maybe…maybe it didn't mean anything to you…but I couldn't forget it afterwards. Not your kindness, or how right it felt, being in your arms. It got so that I would ask about you when I ran into George, and look for you when I knew you were back from Romania. Stupid maybe, but it got so that I wasn't interested in any man but you. I kept trying to tell myself I'd just built you up in my head…that you couldn't possibly be as great as I remembered or imagined you to be." A rueful smile teased the man's lips for a moment. "Turns out you were better in some areas, even drunk."

Forcing himself to look up and over Oliver eyes widened slightly, a choked chuckle escaping his surprised lips as he took in the fact that the other man's cheeks were as red as his hair. "I've embarrassed you."

Running a hand through his tousled hair Charlie jerked his shoulder in a 'what you gonna do' fashion, not sure what to say. He remembered hugging the man of course, there wasn't a second of that day that wasn't engraved in his mind, but at the time he'd been functioning on automatic, going through the motions to get through every tortuous moment and into the next.

But he did remember that hug.

"You weren't the only one…who was comforted." He managed to get out.

Oliver's eyes softened. "You…you needed comfort last night. I'm sorry things got out of hand because I…I wanted you too much not to let it."

"You…don't have to apologize. And you did…help me, I mean. I haven't slept so well in a while."

"Thank you for that." The younger man paused and then forced the words out. "If you want, this will stay between us. No one else ever has to know."

If he was honest he would say that he didn't exactly like the idea of his brothers finding out that he'd slept with their friend and former captain, Harry was basically a brother after all and George…well he didn't even want to think about how he'd react. But unlike many of his brothers he did have the common sense to know that he would hurt Oliver quite a bit if he asked that this be treated like some dirty secret. And he definitely didn't want to do that.

Studying the older man's profile Oliver schooled his features and sucked it up. "I'll take that as a yes, then. That's fine. I'll…I'll just get my clothes and go."

Watching the man shift away as he turned his body to slide off the bed Charlie instinctively reached out and wrapped his fingers around the other man's wrist. "That wasn't a yes. You're not…I don't want you to think I see you as some one night stand I'm kicking out of my bed now that the night's over. I've never been that guy and I never want to be. Just…dammit…I've never been good with this sort of thing the way Bill and the twins were. This is why I don't date anymore, for Merlin sake. I don't know what to say to you."

"Do you regret sleeping with me?"

Staring down at the hand he still had on the man's wrist Charlie studied the link, then looked up to meet Oliver's gaze. "Well I wish I could remember more of it to make up for all this awkwardness, but no…I can't say I regret what I do remember."

Oliver couldn't have stopped his wince if he tried, 'ouch' all but written on his forehead. "You don't remember most of it?"

Understanding the reaction, he'd be pretty pissed himself if someone were to suggest he was forgettable in bed, Charlie let go of the other man's wrist and instead cupped Oliver's cheek for a moment in a brief show of affection. "I remember enough to regret not remembering all of it."

There was uncertainty and hesitation in the younger man's eyes as he lifted a hand up to place it over top of Charlie's, holding the rough, calloused hand against his cheek, briefly nuzzling his cheek against it. "Regret enough…that maybe you'd be interested in repeating the experience sometime? Or…or even just maybe letting me…buy you dinner sometime?"

It had to be said. "I'm going back to Romania at the end of the week."

"I know. George told me the last time we talked."

Weighing the man's response and unable not to think about what he did remember them doing the night before and the keeper's apparent feelings for him, Charlie finally just pushed all those things aside and tried to look at it all at their most basic. This man wanted him and if he was being honest he wanted Wood just as much now that his eyes had been opened to the man the boy he'd once known had become. And okay, he really did want a repeat of the night before because what he did remember was definitely worth repeating. Preferably over and over again.

"So you're okay with a brief…affair?" Was the best way Charlie could think to put it. They lived in two different countries and he knew they were both married to their jobs at heart.

Shifting again, this time towards the man he wanted, Oliver slowly moved to straddle the redhead, making sure he wasn't overstepping his bounds before he leaned in to press his lips against Charlie's, the kiss slow and sweet as they both silently signaled to the other their interest in seeing where this could go.

And when he pulled back Oliver grinned. "I'm okay with an affair, providing I'm allowed to try and convince you that keeping in touch with me afterwards would be a good idea."

Charlie grinned back as he wiggled his eyebrows, Weasley humor kicking in. "Well you are a keeper after all."

Laughing in delight Oliver went back to kissing his favorite seeker, Charlie happy to follow suit.

They still made one heck of a good team after all.

The End