Lean on Me ||perciver

6. Mister Ministry

"Are you on for a Weasley dinner this Saturday?" Percy asked, looking up from the letter which had just arrived that morning. "Mother would love for you to visit the Burrow again, at least before quidditch season starts up."

"She knows it's not for a few months, right?" Oliver asked. He assumed she did, considering her family was full of talented quidditch players and enthusiasts alike. What he wouldn't do to have a family big enough for a team.

"She does, but I suppose she's being somewhat dramatic. It has only been a couple of weeks since you have had dinner with us, but then again, it would seem like a lifetime in mother's eyes." Oliver's smiled fondly at the thought.

"I'm not complaining," he said. "Tell her that I would love to be there." A dinner with the Weasleys was definitely something to look forward to at the end of the week.

In the meantime, however, he lacked plans. He had no practice until tomorrow, and even then, for the rest of the week his schedule was empty. He could always return to the furniture store and take a browse through there, but he had a feeling that he shouldn't, in case he spent any more money there. He needed to save up for groceries and other necessities around the flat.

Speaking of ...

"Are we out of bread?" He asked, making his way to the fridge.

"I think we used the last of it for breakfast," Percy called back. "I have to head in to work, so I won't be able to pick anything up at the store, and it's your turn, anyhow. Would you mind?"

He smiled to himself as he checked the fridge. Of course he didn't mind, but he loved that Percy asked every time. " 'Course not, Percy. I'll even get those noodles that you like this time, so we can have pasta. Sound good?"He got a muffled reply from the other room which he took as an affirmative.

He finished up the grocery list and folded it in his pocket. He liked to be useful around the house-which ended up being all of the time, unsurprisingly- and it was a good way to keep himself active, lest he get too bored.

"Right, I'm off to work," Percy informed, hauling his work bag over his shoulder and pushing up his glasses. His hair was as kept as always, but Oliver noticed that he was uncharacteristically disheveled, at least to Percy's standards.

"Wait, lemme fix something first," he said, bounding to Percy's side before he could open the door. He reached out and folded the back of his collar into place.

"It was a bit unkept," he explained when Percy blinked in surprise.

His actions were rewarded with a smile that made his brain scrabbled for a moment, which was probably why, when Oliver spotted a spot of jam on his cheek, he didn't consider what he was doing until he had already reached out and rubbed the spot away with his thumb. And then licked it off of his finger. All in front of Percy. Oliver could feel his face burning, although he wasn't alone, as Percy's ears were turning a slight red.

"Uh-" Oliver faltered, lowering his thumb to wipe it at his jeans, "you had a bit of ah- a bit of jam. On your cheek."

It was silent for a few moments. Oliver was internally screaming, panicking at how he was going to react. Percy was simply staring at Oliver owlishly, hand lifting to the spot where the jam was wiped away, ghosting over it.

Finally, Percy broke the silence with a smile as bright as the sun.

"Thanks, Ollie," he licked his lips. "That could have ended up being very embarrassing for me if I had walked into the ministry with jam on my face."

"No problem, Perce," he croaked. He marveled at how normal his flatmate was acting. As if he wasn't bothered at all with what had just transpired between them.