Work Text:
Percy Weasley was known as a lot of things, both at home and at school. Every possible combination of adjectives, he had heard it all before:
“pompous git”, “stuck up arse”, “stick in the mud”, “boring bloke”, “lady repeller”
These were all phrases he had heard when speaking about him, either in whispers or directly to his face (specially in mouth of unpleasant individuals, description that sometimes included some of his family, to his dismayed resignation).
At the beginning, it had angered him (a lot) the way he was perceived (no pun intended) by the people in his vicinity for things he couldn’t help. Yeah, so what if he preferred academic topics to Quidditch and thought spending weeks with his head buried in a book or perfecting his essays was an enjoyable activity?
That didn’t necessarily make him “bland” or “boring” or whatever name people decide on that day.
It just made him Percy Weasley.
What was so wrong with that? Why punish him for being different?
Thus, instead of retracting and caving to his peers’ criticisms, he just focused harder on said activities, constructing a perfect facade that repelled all comments (or at least it did so to the best of its abilities). And his hard work paid off: he was chosen a prefect in his fifth year and Head Boy in his last, and earned 12 OWLS (the highest amount among his classmates). Those achievements comforted him by showing Percy his efforts were valuable and recognized (he was worthy of praise) and helped ease the pain that those little comments inflicted in him (a life-saving shield from the death by those thousand paper cuts). When his mother praised him for being such a wonderful son and said how proud he was of him, insisting that his younger siblings take him as a role model (someone they should aspire to be), he felt almost happy (he made sure to always ignore his siblings’ replies).
That happiness, however, was just momentary. It didn’t compared to the everlasting joy he felt in Oliver Wood’s arms. Oliver had met him at the young age of eleven and was his best friend since all those years ago. Oliver, however, didn’t like him despite his “odd behaviour”, but instead was captivated by his peculiarities.
“Those are the reasons I love you, you know. I would never even think to change you.”, whispered his boyfriend in his ear when they cuddle in one of their beds (the constant reassuring really help Percy, whose head was sometimes invaded with dark, pessimistic doubts).
Their relationship was, sometimes, Percy’s only anchor, the only thing keeping him afloat in the mess of stress and anxiety he came close to drowning in a couple of times (or at least that’s how he felt):
After a day full of non-stop studying for hours or Prefect (worse later on as Head Boy)’s endless responsibilities (or at least they seemed like it).
After trying to keep his facade of being a perfect straight-O student who follows the rules to a T (or at least makes sure not to get caught breaking them) and tries to get other students to follow them as well.
Or after dealing with particularly nasty comments from his classmates or some teasing from family members (most of the time, the twins) about his weird and boring personality.
When he felt tired of carrying his whole world (on top of other’s expectations) on his shoulders and felt closed to crashing down, to giving up. That’s were Oliver became his sort of saviour (who needed a Harry Potter when you could have an Oliver Wood).
His boyfriend didn’t criticised him for his overachieving attitude; well, at least not in the same way other people did.
Oliver respected his passion for learning and his search to expand his knowledge. The two would spend hours in their dormitory, just talking about each other’s major topics of interest that week.
Oliver would rant about the disastrous decision that changing their Seeker had been for Puddlemere United. Percy would compared in great detail the value of Arithmancy and Divination in regards of which subject allowed for a more precise and accurate prediction of the future, citing different books as evidence.
Topics that their partner might have normally considered to be extremely boring were shown in a new and brighter light when they came out of the mouth of the person they loved. When it was explained in their passionate voice, it suddenly became the most important knowledge one could obtain at the present time (even if it did go into one ear and out of the other most times, let’s not kid ourselves).
It was just so fascinating.
While Oliver was used to having people with whom to discuss Quidditch with (sadly, not in as great detail and care as he did, but most wizards were big fans of the sport), Percy had spent most of his life experiencing either people attempting to understand what he was saying and getting bored and distracted soon after, or just telling him to his face to shut up (in nicer or meaner words, depending on the person). Now, whereas it be his boyfriend listening to him rant with the softest expression possible in his face and love-filled eyes (as if he were the best thing that had ever happen to Oliver’s life) or, in the most wonderful occasions, processing the points Percy made and arguing back or asking questions (the couple could have the best long and passionate debates one could imagine when their interests intersected, as was the case sometimes with chess techniques or quidditch theory/history)…
Having someone that would paid attention to him, and only him, treating his words as if they were made out of the finest gold…
Someone who cared about him enough to do his best and listen to him, valuing his every word.
Someone who loved him, not in spite of the characteristics others perceived as flaws but because of them (because it made him who he was).
Someone that sincerely considered him to be “the most captivating and charming human to ever exist” and “the most beautiful and sexiest Weasley” (all his boyfriend’s words, not Percy’s).
Someone who Percy could be his true self with, dropping every bit of his facade without fear because he knew he would always be adored unconditionally and never be asked to change.
Someone he knew would always be there for him to give him an encouraging word or a comforting cuddle when needed and who kept him grounded (as did Percy when their positions were inverted and his boyfriend was the one who needed it, which was specially the case after a match lost).
Someone who he could love and be loved by, heartily and completely.
Yeah, let’s just say (to put it lightly) that having someone like Oliver Wood in Percy Weasley’s life had been truly life-changing.