Summary: What Oliver does after the battle that ends the second war.
Adrian sniffs at the drink in his hand. "Oi, is it possible for firewhiskey to go bad?"
Oliver shakes his head, but he doesn't look too sure. "I don't think so…"
"Great. If we have to rely on that brilliance of yours, we'll starve."
The taller wizard snorts, masking a chuckle. "You could always hang out at your own place."
"No… No, I can't." Adrian stares down at his denims and cloak. He still hasn't taken his cloak off or bothered to brush the dust from his clothes. He also hasn't healed the gash on his arm or even wiped the dried blood from under his nose. Glancing at Oliver, he sees a similar disheveled-ness.
Oliver is all right like Adrian, of course, but he's filthier. There isn't as much blood on him, but he's definitely paled enough that it's noticeable in dim light. For Oliver, the real damage had been the fight and seeing the school torn apart, not to mention seeing old friends fall…
Adrian looks back to his drink. Yeah, he didn't have a friend die, so he doesn't know how Oliver feels.
"It's been a whole day," the Gryffindor quietly states after five minutes of silence.
"Yeah, I know."
"I was kind of surprised at Flint."
"Same." Adrian releases a large, slow breath. "I actually looked him in the eye after I overpowered him. I said to him, I said, 'Really, Marc? Really? This is what you've become?' Then I scoffed and added, 'What would Ter think, eh? You know he'd never be part of this.'"
Oliver's eyes widen just a bit. "Ter…as in Terence Higgs? No shit?"
"Yeah. I think Marcus was just as stunned, but we on the team knew it almost right away. Terence left him a year ago, though."
"I see." Again, silence greets them, and they nurse their drinks. Again, Oliver is the one to shoo the silence away. "Can you believe it? Just yesterday, we were in Scotland because Katie got the notice from the D.A. coin and rallied me, Angelina, Alicia… It wasn't surprising to know Lee was already there, with—" His voice catches. "Well, with the twins."
Adrian nods. "At least it's now over." He frowns and adds, "George will be alone now, but at least he's still alive."
"Dunno about that—we've never lost a twin ourselves," Oliver says, and his bottle is at last empty.
Adrian swishes the remainder of his drink in its container. He knows the drink isn't doing its job as a tonic, and he knows Oliver's thinking the same thing. But neither of them goes to get another.
"…the world's really changed, Adrian."
"Yeah, Wood, I know."
Oliver shoots him a look, because he was being serious. Adrian knows that, but it's a habit, calling him "Wood," because they're not supposed to be friendly, even if they have grown close.
"There's one thing, though."
"And what's that?"
"You can get back to not playing for Puddlemere now," Adrian remarks with a smirk, and it's enough to get Oliver to snort and laugh at himself.
"Git…! Ah…" Oliver calms and looks at the bottles in their hands. "Merlin, I really should've gotten a new case, shouldn't I?"
"You should've."
Oliver takes Adrian's not-quite-yet-empty bottle, easily blushing when his fingers graze Adrian's skin, a motion that makes Adrian want to groan in annoyance. "Still, you could've gone to your own place."
"You know Terence took over the flat once I started hanging out here most of the time. Besides," Adrian continues as he stands and follows Oliver into the kitchen, "do you want to kick me out?"
"No, I'm not kicking you out, just…agh." Oliver places the bottles in the rarely used kitchen sink and looks anywhere but at Adrian. "I mean, so much happened yesterday."
"And you only want Quidditch to happen now."
"Uh, yeah."
"Right." Silence slithers in one more time until Adrian strangles it for interrupting. "I didn't fight yesterday for them. I fought for you."
"I know."
Adrian looks at Oliver, whose gaze at last lingers on him in exactly the way it should. Adrian feels pleasant for the first time in thirty hours. "Oh. Good then."
"Good."
"Right."
"Yup."
"Back to Quidditch then."
"Yeah…"
"…"
Oliver clears his throat. "Puddlemere won't need me for a while, not while the Wizarding world is trying to get its feet back on the ground…" He glances at Adrian. "So can we sit awhile again?"
Adrian nods and tugs on Oliver's sleeve. "Of course, Oliver." At that, Oliver's hand slips into his as they settle back into the couch in Oliver's living room, and Adrian understands that Quidditch is the last thing on Oliver's mind right now.
-w- I like little moments like these, because so much can happen in them…! Dx Argh, and I love Marcus/Terence, so I had to include that. ;P But this is getting me to love Ollian more… :'))) Kimmy, look what you made me do! XP
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
2017 note: *lol* A cute 2012 drabble. -w- I'm glad I had these ideas, this and its predecessor, "He Never Liked Sweets." However, they actually helped me figure out some how I want to write more Marcerence (but in my overall headcanon, the Maydayverse). Ahhhh, these two are cute, tho. :3
Summary: Oliver is distraught about the near future, and Adrian says something more than surprising…though maybe not what you'd think.
"They're not going to do anything. There's no work to be done," Adrian tells him at the end of April.
Oliver fidgets on the couch, staring intently at his fireplace, waiting for someone to Floo him. "That's not true. In fact, with my karma, I bet someone will contact me right after I set foot out the door."
Adrian rolls his eyes. "Seriously, Wood? You've been a reserve for Puddlemere for a few years now. They don't have to call and tell you anything. Besides, haven't you noticed?" He peeks through the blinds of the window to his right. The sky's charcoal gray despite it being noon. "There's a war going on."
That does it. Those are the words that make him tense completely, and Adrian feels something funny develop in his gut. Maybe he shouldn't have said such a thing to Oliver. Adrian had been more than happy to leave Hogwarts. But he knew Oliver had a lot of friends in the underclassmen, friends who were at the school right now, friends who were in a precarious position, what with all the Death Eaters running loose these days.
"There's not going to be any Quidditch for a little while," Adrian follows up, but, as he shifts his weight on his feet, he observes that Oliver is still quite frozen.
Adrian groans. Oliver's got such a one-track mind. Why Adrian had hung around after one of Puddlemere's games when he'd realized Oliver worked for them, he hadn't a clue. Maybe Adrian took a bit of comfort in familiarity, since his parents had sent him to look after his senile grandfather after school in lieu of allowing him to pursue any kind of career involving Quidditch. Maybe it was a vicarious relationship—Oliver still played Quidditch, so maybe Adrian still did, too, through his schoolmate.
"It'll be summer soon," Adrian remarks lazily. "Tomorrow's the first of May."
Oliver swallows the lump in his throat. "Something doesn't feel right."
"In what way?"
"Like…something else is coming tomorrow, too," the Keeper states.
Adrian eyes Oliver. It's something he's been doing on and off for months, ever since they bumped into one another at that Quidditch game. He eyes him often when they return to Oliver's flat for a firewhiskey or dessert (though someone should tell Oliver that cheese does not count as dessert), and eyeing him has become something of a pastime for Adrian. Perhaps it has become a pastime due to the fact that Oliver is entertaining, is nice to look at, is expressive…something like that.
"I don't like it." Oliver swallows a second lump that's arrived in his airway. "Maybe I should call Katie or Angelina or one of the others."
Adrian didn't share Slytherin House with Marcus Flint for years and learn nothing. He strides over to the distraught lion, sits down beside him, and grabs Oliver's outstretched hand. "Hey." He makes Oliver look at him—hmm, maybe eyeing Oliver is fun really due to the fact that he's a good-looking bloke—and then he continues. "Don't worry. I'm sure everyone's staying safe."
Oliver pouts, a surprising gesture considering Oliver doesn't exactly like letting his guard down around Adrian. They do get on well enough, though, and Adrian appreciates this step forward in the right direction. "I just don't feel sure about it…"
"Then if we're called, we'll go fight," Adrian says begrudgingly with a groan, but his groan fades as Oliver grips his hand. At first it's just Oliver reassuring Adrian that he won't do anything brash. But then it's Oliver linking their fingers, and Adrian leans his head on the larger wizard's shoulder, because he's got to hide his red face, because he's a proud man and because he can't show anyone just how happy he feels to be this close to someone.
Adrian muses on what he's told Oliver. Then he thinks of that saying, "Come to the Dark side—we've got cookies." Sure, it's some inane Muggle thing (and where did he learn that, anyway? It's probably Oliver's fault), but Adrian realizes with a snicker that his comfort to Oliver is that he's just offered to fight for the side of the light, on the side of Potter and all the rest.
Good Merlin. Adrian's become a hero.
But then he is aware of the warmth of Oliver's hand in his. And the Dark side only has cookies to offer? Well, then, good thing Adrian's never been very fond of sweets.
Nice. Yeah, I know Brits don't use "cookies" but "biscuits" instead, but my idea involved that saying, so… ;P Still, a funny thought—Adrian being a good guy. Talk about uncharted territory, for most Slytherins! XD
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
2017 note: *lol* Still cute. I love p much any and all Oliver ships and most Quidditch ships. Adrian's, like, a giant grump IMO, but he's so cute around Oliver. Like. An unwilling grump. XDDD Man, I miss doing drabble tag… :O
Summary: Oliver's always got to fall for someone younger.
Win
Win
W
I
N
!
Against Hufflepuff
Against Ravenclaw
Against S l y t h e r i n
-practically Oliver Wood's
m*a*n*t*r*a-
Godric knows he
n·e·e·d·e·d one
because snakes don't play fair
(yet, all's fair in
love&&war…)
%%%%%%%%%%
If Oliver learned one thing
in all his Hogwarts years
it was that he could trust | only |
his t_e_a_m
·Eagles are stubborn
·Badgers like that rare win
·Sssnakesss are a~l~w~a~y~s
ready to
BITE!
and nothing would change those
f-a-c-t-s
though someone told him they're
f. i. c. t. i. o. n.
%%%%%%%%%%
No matter how many times
Oliver tried to get e_v_i_d_e_n_c_e
that a·l·l snakes cheat,
Pucey. Wouldn't. Give. Way.
But Oliver was a/d/a/m/a/n/t
…yet Adrian bended this way&&that
and never
bRoKe
Oliver could try
coercionintimidationp e r s u a s i o n
but green little Adrian showed he wasn't so green at all
& played · along
But he really t-o-y-e-d with Ollie
A shove in a s.e.c.l.u.d.e.d. hallway…
A smirk on the way to class…
An offer for a one~on~one, private match…
They're a MATCH, all right
&& "one-on-one" isn't t h a t strange a feeling…
Adrian doesn't cheat, so maybe he's worthy of Oliver's trust
because—let's face it—
he's always got to FALL for someone y o u n g e r
Ah, yeah, Quidditch boys' love… B) Question: Adrian doesn't cheat on the field…or on Oliver? ;) Ah, how budding… Merlin! Ollian would look awesome together… -w- And isn't it strange how Oliver is pretty much always with someone younger? It really is cut 'n' dried…
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
2017 note: XD I remember this led to some interesting shipping discussions amongst mates yrs ago… Quidditch ships are just wonderful, esp Oliver ones. ;P
