Chapter Text
Percy Weasley would consider himself a fairly serious and ambitious person.
Other students, his brothers included, would most likely describe him as a teacher’s pet, a know-it-all, or a stuck-up prat. But no one would describe him as an average teenager.
He was taking five AP classes this year, was the star of the Golden Valley High debate team, and had never missed a day of school. He aspired to earn a scholarship to college, preferably one of the Ivy League schools, so he didn’t have time to waste on parties or other activities he would consider frivolous.
Most of his time was spent studying in the library with his best (and only) friend, Penelope. He could be seen there most mornings before classes, during lunch breaks, free periods, and afternoons, more often than not accompanied by Penny. They had met in their advanced math class freshman year and had been inseparable ever since.
They shared similar interests and ambitions, were on an equal intellectual level, and she was the only one who noticed when Percy’s eyes just so happened to drift over to him.
Oliver Wood.
The polar opposite of Percy. And definitely not his crush, thank you very much, Penny.
The goalie for the school’s soccer team was just a friend of Percy’s brothers—and just as annoying as they were. Loud, obnoxious, obsessed with sports, and not at all in the same social circles as Percy.
So if he occasionally appeared in Percy’s daydreams... well, no one had to know about that.
Another thing no one had to know about was how, no matter how hard Percy tried, he couldn’t think of Oliver using any of the adjectives he should have. Instead, he saw him as outgoing, sweet, friendly, and radiating positive energy like the sun.
It also didn’t help that Percy couldn’t stop blushing every time he caught a glimpse of the athlete. In his opinion, the tall brunette was the closest thing possible to a Greek god: tall, sun-kissed skin, muscular, toned, and with a blinding smile.
But he really shouldn’t be thinking about any of that right now. They had a biology test at the end of the week, and he really needed to focus on the different types of DNA.
Penny seemed to agree with that sentiment, because she was looking at him expectantly, tapping her pen against the table.
“Were you even listening??? Don’t tell me you’re daydreaming again.”
“Of course I was listening,” he said, fiddling with his glasses nervously. “Okay, you’re right, I wasn’t listening. But I wasn’t daydreaming either.”
Penny shot him a disbelieving look. “I was just saying how mad I am that we still learn about Watson and Crick when it’s known by now that Rosalind Franklin discovered it. It’s unbelievable that those thieves still get praised in our textbooks.”
This was why he loved her so much, no one else could get so righteously enraged about academic topics like his best friend.
“Yeah, you’re totally right. Watson and Crick deserve to have ‘misogynistic trash and thieves’ as the first line in their Wikipedia article.”
Penny chuckled at that and remarked, “Just for that, I’ll forgive you for ignoring me this once.”
Percy opened his mouth to deny the allegation, but just then the bell rang, announcing the start of their first class.
They gathered their things and headed off to Spanish.