A/n: Hello my friends, it's been a bit huh?
I've finally gotten the motivation to finish the chapter and am so happy with the way it turned out! I hope you guys do to. (But feel free to point out any spelling mistakes so I can fix them, I wrote some of this late at night lmao)
And quickly before you guys continue, this is just a very quick and small ⚠️ tigger warning ⚠️
In honour of pride month, I have made part of this chapter more focused on Callum and his struggles with being in an openly gay relationship. If any of that upsets you in any way, please feel free to skip this chapter, and I would completely understand if some of you do.
I personally don't believe it to be heavily focused on, but I don't know about anybody's triggers and feel the need to warn you guys either way.
That being said, I hope you've all had a great past few days and have even better ones coming!
And last but not least, HAPPY PRIDE MONTH TO YOU ALL!! <33
Y/n's POV:
It was a Tuesday in the Weasley family home. But unlike every other day, it was complete and utter chaos. More than normal, if you could believe it.
It was all hustle and bustle, people running around so fast you'd think they where running to their freedom. But it was all without casualty. So far.
"Sorry!" Oliver apologized after he'd just bumped into to me by accident, whizzing past me so fast all I saw was a flash of his brown hair.
By the time he'd flown by, I was too occupied myself to even yell a 'it's okay' back, checking up on Molly to make sure she didn't need any help. She'd seemed to be handling everything pretty well so far, probably because she was so used to all the chaos. I had guessed that it was just one of the things that came with having a big family like this.
As soon as Molly had waved me away, insisting that she had everything under control, I had finally remembered something. I practically sprinted up the stairs to my room, almost tripping over a few things The Twins had left sprawled out on the floor.
"Y/n!" George called out to me as I ran past him. But I hadn't halted, already knowing what he was planning on asking. Again.
"In the Kitchen, George!" I replied, remembering the sight of his cufflinks laying on the table. He always forgot where he put them. Every. single. year.
"Thank you!" He yelled back, dashing down the stairs. So many people where running up and down them every few seconds, I was afraid they'd eventually give out. But they had stayed surprisingly sturdy. What kind of magic wood did they use to build these stairs?
I'm sure that by now, you could tell we where in a bit of a rush. It was only late afternoon and the party wouldn't be for another hour or so, but Mrs Weasley had wanted us to be ready to greet guests as they arrived.
I was a bit nervous considering most of the people coming where some distant relatives of Percy, and probably knew alot more about me than I did them. Molly had supposedly told them alot about us all, 'to get us aquatinted' she said. Which was pretty ironic seeing as I knew pretty much nothing about them, but I got ready nonetheless.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." I chorused, searching through all my dresser draws in looks for a pair of silver earrings Vera had gifted me for Christmas. They where these dainty, dangly things that had a matching necklace she'd also gifted me a few year prior. They had a sweet charm hanging at the end of them, and where pretty much made more me. Vera had always had a nak when it came to gift giving.
"Finally!" I gasped as I spotted them by my small mirror on my desk. I slapped my forehead in frustration, remembering I had put them there specifically to remember for later. I laughed at my own stupidity.
I picked them up, removing the end pieces from each one as I placed those back onto the desk. Taking a look in the mirror to make sure I inserted them right, I held them in place and secured them with the end pieces again. I sighed in relief, stringing on my matching necklace and a few rings from my jewelry box, knowing it would help make my some-what plain dress appear more formal with it's added accessories.
Thought I had yet to put that on, having it still tucked away neatly under my bed from when the Twins tried to break into my room and find it. The little shits.
I was going to put it on later, after having made sure everything else was sorted. At least that way, I could avoid somehow ruining it.
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"Y/n!" I gasping voice sounded, huffing and puffing as they shut the door behind them. "I need your help."
I was hit with some serious déjà vu.
I sighed, dropping my hands as I was in the middle of doing my hair and placed it out towards them. Callum had not-so-subtly rolled his eyes at me, placing the brown chocolate frog in my hands as he sat himself down.
"What's up?" I asked, biting open the wrapper to open it and shoving it all in my mouth.
"You know, you'll hurt your teeth doing that." He retorted.
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes as I quickly swallowed down the chocolate, and turned it my chair. "What's up?" I repeated.
Callum gulped. "I saw Oliver in his suit."
"And, what?" I joked, "did he look that bad?"
Callum vigorously shook his head, biting his bottom lip as he nervously began to look down. He looked scared. Something was definitely wrong.
"I'm just-" he began, already having to fight back tears, "I got scared. Seeing him in the suit sort of made realise things. Not really hiding the fact that I'm gay is one thing... but now having a boyfriend and making it all the more public is..." I heard his voice shake, "scary."
"Oh, Callum." I said, sitting down next to him on my bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, encouraging him to continue.
Now he was really trying hard to not cry. "I'm going to be infront of all of these people I don't even know with Oliver as my date, dancing and things and I- I just don't want to have to worry about someone might say. I just wanna be able to enjoy my night- you know?"
"I know." I nodded, wrapping my arm around him tighter. "Do you want a hug?" I asked.
"Yes please." He choked, and I didn't hesitate for another second after that. I pulled him in closer, soothingly rubbing his back as his head rested tiredly on my shoulder. I heard a few quiet sobs escape, but didn't say anything. I knew he already had enough problems crying around people, and I wasn't about to make it any more worse for him.
"Thank you." He croaked. I could of sworn I felt my heart crack at sound of his voice. It had sounded to broken. Completely and utterly destroyed.
I hated seeing him like this. This world had been so unfair to him, and he didn't deserve any of it. He was one of my closest friends, someone I could go to for pretty much anything, and I cared for him alot.
We could sit around and do nothing for hours but still have so much fun together. His kind of fun was never to bend the rules or do anything disruptive like George and Fred, which in many ways was a good thing. I loved The Twins and their chaos, some of which I occasionally joined in on, but it was nice to just be able to sit back and laugh about absolutely nothing together - and for not reason at all.
And as much of a goody-to-shoes as he was, I felt like I needed that balance in my life. Compared to the more chaotic side of my life. I loved him dearly, like a brother. We definitely got on eachother's nerves often, there was no doubt about that, but that was all a part of having a relationship like ours.
He wasn't normally one to break, which made it everytime he did just that much worse. I hated the world for having brought on this pain for him, and I hated seeing him in it. It chipped away at my heart; piece by piece everytime.
"It's okay, we'll figure something out." I tried my best to reassure him this way, helping him by letting him know that he wasn't alone in this. And hopefully, never would be again.
"Okay." He finally said, pulling back to wipe away a few stray tears.
I pulled a tissue out of thin air for him like the witch that I was, handing it to him with a smile. I may have also thrown in one of my chocolate frogs in there to, which he inhailed within minutes for getting himself together.
"Why don't you talk to Molly or Oliver about this, I'm sure they can help in some way." I suggested, "Plus, I'm pretty sure Molly already knows anyway. You guys really aren't being as subtle as you think you are."
He laughed, and the sound relieved some of the tightness from my chest. "I will." He shifted to face me again, smiling. "Thank you, you big idiot."
I let out a laugh. "No problem." I paused, "Dumbass."
"Ha!" Callum laughed, "look who's taking."
I shoved him away. "Prick"
He shoved me back. "Asshat."
I snorted, covering my mouth in embarrassment. This had brought Callum into histerics, leaning back as he let out cries of laughter. "What was that?"
I smacked his arm. "Just- shut up!"
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After another crying session, Callum had managed to sort things out with Oliver and Molly. And as we'd all suspected, she had known all along.
She'd already made sure everyone who was going was okay with it, and pretty much promised to hex anyone if they said anything weird to anyone about the situation. This had also relieved some of the tension between Oliver and Callum. They had talked to eachother about the rest privately, and had come to a conclusion. They would still be going as eachother's dates, maybe even dance a little sometime during the night, but none of what would happen next would be done without the other's consent.
After all that weight had been lifted from our shoulders, I had happily ran to my room to finally put on my dress. I was giddy with excitement, slipping on my shoes as I held the straps of my dress up.
Try as I might, I could not get the back to zip up.
Then a knock had sounded from the other side of my door. I desperately clung to the straps as I unlocked it, swinging it open. "Oh, hi Perce." I smiled at the familiar face.
"Hey." He mirrored my grin, eyes sifting as he glanced at my shoulders, then turning to stare at his shoes. I had then picked up on the current situation, blushing awkwardly.
"Hey uh, Percy..." I almost hesitated, gulping sightly with nervousness as I prepared for my next words. He turned to look back at me.
"Would you mind helping me with my dress?" I asked, inwardly cringing and pointing at the back, "I can't zip it up."
"Right, uhm..." He began, pausing for a second as I saw his jaw tense, "sure."
I had let him in, closing the door behind us. I had made sure to smile at him greatfully before I turned to face the wall opposite us. I held onto the straps of my dress up so they wouldn't slip as his hands found their way to my back, gently grabbing a hold of the zipper that was resting at the end of it and began to tug it up. He was going slow in an attempt to stop the zipper from snagging the fabric of my dress.
Everyone once in a while, his hand would come into contact with my back through a gentle brush or accidental touch sent volts of electricity up my spine. I could feel his minty breath tickling my neck, smell his intoxicating perfume hovering in the air between us. And all that seemed to do was make my legs weaken and my face blush like crazy.
When he'd made it up to about halfway, he gently swept my hair over my shoulder with one simple motion that made my skin feel like it was on fire. Goosebumps had begun to form, my heart beating unnaturally fast and feeling as though it would burst thought my chest at any given moment. His thumb gently ran over my collarbone, trying to ease my anxiety this way, running it up and down. He must have picked up on the tenseness in my shoulders.
I stared back at him with wide eyes and a, surely, very red face. He was so much closer to me than I'd anticipated, eyes searching mine relentlessly. He reached up, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear with a gentle hand. "Ease up, Darling," He told me.
Ease up, ease up?! Right. Because I can so easily relax when he's this close to me, hand resting on my shoulder and looking as though he might kiss me at any given moment.
I nodded, not trusting myself to get any words out without fumbling, and quickly spun my head back around. And at this point, I was close to fanning my face.
He had finally let go of me after a few more seconds, giving me plenty of time to recollect myself and to thank him. I smiled, turning to him.
"Wow." Percy sighed, drinking me in.
"What is it?" I asked with a laugh, looking up at him through furrowed eyebrows. "Is there something on my dress?" I looked down, nervously flattening out the skirt.
"No, nothing." Percy deflected, smiling at me as he did.
I took this opportunity to take a look at what Percy was wearing, as I didn't have much of a chance to when he was making me feel like I was about to faint.
And I stopped in my tacks. Holy smokes.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked, noticing my stare and nervously looking down at his attire. It was definitely a bit plain compared to his Winter Ball outfit, but it suited him nonetheless.
He wore a crisp white shirt that looked as if it was ironed, (which, knowing Percy, it probably was.) The sleeves where rolled up in more relaxed manner with the top button undone. He wore his slightly pleated black trousers, with a black belt looped through it and hands stuffed in the pockets.
He was normally pretty uptight, so it was different to see him in a more relaxed fit - especially without a tie, but it suited him nonetheless. I actually thinked he looked far better this way. Looking this attractive, I seriously doubted anyone would be able to take their eyes off of him throughout the night.
Or at least, I sure as hell wouldn't.
"Nothing." I grinned with a teasing smile on my lips. "You just look different without ruffles."
He rolled his eyes, not having the energy to fire back at my comment about his previously horrendous suit. "Yeah, yeah, alright." He deflected.
"Oh relax, Freckles, I'm only teasing." I turned to his side as he had begun to walk away. "And what, you're not going to fire back? Tell me that I look bad to?" I asked, half expecting him to bite back at me like he used to.
"Can't." He mumbled.
"Why not?" I pushed.
"Well, then I..." He gulped, "would be lying."
I laughed at his vague bluntness. "Is this your weird way of telling me I look good?" I asked.
"You look more than good," He said, "you look beautiful."
I felt a hot blush spreading to my cheeks again, this time sucking on the inside of my cheeks as I let his beautiful words sink in. "Well," I mustered up the courage to look at him again, hands fiddling with the rings on my fingers, "so do you."
Now it was his turn to turn red, glancing at the wall to his right in hopes of me not noticing his flustered face. But I had. And it made my heart unexpectantly flutter.
"I guess I'll see you downstairs then, Perce." I smiled, turning on my heel as I had begun to walk past him.
He glanced back at me, mirroring my smile. I had gulped, hoping that he hadn't picked up on the way I flushed red as our shoulders brushed past one another.
God fucking damn it.