Silent Nights [Danny]

[Oliver Pace]

It had only been a few days since the start of the Christmas holiday, and Oliver was thoroughly sick of it already. Nothing interesting had happened, and apart from watching his neighbours freak out over what he considered to be a pathetic amount of snow, he had nothing to amuse himself with while his family carried on ignoring each other. He was certain that not even Antarctica could be colder than the atmosphere in his house was, and honestly couldn't wait to be back at Hogwarts, because at least there, some people wanted him around.

The time he'd spent at home already had caused a dent in his already low self confidence, and reversed any progress he seemed to make at school. He hadn't spoken a single word to anyone since the holidays started – He couldn't quite bring himself to. And perhaps this was all Danny's fault, because he only ever seemed to find his tongue when that boy was around. And as of yet, he hadn't shown up. From the moment Oliver had asked the blonde to come, he had doubted that he really would. The more time passed, the more he doubted Danny would come, and the more he'd try and make up reasons for him. Like, he couldn't get away from school, he'd had to go for some reason, the weather put him off... all the way to the blonde was simply having more fun without him. In his mind, any reason the boy could have for staying away was perfectly reasonable, though he couldn't say he wasn't disappointed. Some part of him had still hoped that he'd turn up and make everything better, so much so that he'd even bought the boy a present, just in case. Now, he just felt silly for it. Eventually, he'd had to push Danny out of his mind completely, just so he could cope with his holidays.

And coping he was, though just about. Oliver had gotten so bored and so in need of a distraction that he'd tidied pretty much anything he came in to contact with, which ended up being the majority of the house. Eventually, he ran out of things to do, and after wandering about like a lost puppy for a few moments, he'd stretched himself out across a sofa in his front room, one earphone of an old MP3 player stuck in his ear. If this was how his holidays would be, he feared he'd die of boredom before they were over.

[Danny Bailey]

Danny was nervous, and that was an understatement. Even though Olivers invitation had been honest at the moment, he doubted that the other actually wanted him to appear at his house. It was one thing to be friends, quite another to be meeting the family when their own relationship was as rocky as anything could be. Still. He was here, in the snow, Hufflepuff scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, ringing the doorbell.

The blonde hopped from one foot to the other, a small suitcase standing next to him. He'd brought presents for Oliver and his family, mostly gift cards as he had no idea what to get for a group of people he didn't even know. What if Oli's mum didn't approve of him and sent him away again? The blondes cheeks were tinged from the cold, hiding his nervousness as he continued to shift his weight from one foot to the next.

His holidays had been anything but fun so far, and really, this couldn't get any worse even if he DID get sent away. His dad had been utterly drunk most of the time, he'd been slapped around more than usual, and he'd missed his mum something awful. All the nights he'd curled up in his bed, he'd thought of one person only, the one person who could fix all of this. And that was why he was standing outside his apartment right now, praying that the brunette would be genuinely happy to see him. He didn't think, no matter how much he tried to assure himself, that he'd be okay if he got sent back to Hogwarts.

[Oliver Pace]

The sound of a ringing doorbell hit Oliver's ear – The one that wasn't being deafened, at least. At first, the boy just ignored it, assuming that someone else would get it. After a couple more rings, he cast a look up at his mother, and got one in return which clearly said 'if you don't get that right now I'll slap you into next year'. With a silent sigh of annoyance, the brunette pushed himself to his feet and sauntered off in the direction of the door.

Upon opening it, he was immediately glad that both of the females in his house were as lazy as they were. Trying to explain why there was a small blonde boy on their front porch would be awkward. A look of surprise washed over Oliver's previously blank face, then was quickly replaced with a bright grin. He stared at Danny for a moment, grinning stupidly, before tugging him in through the door, closing it behind him. Even after a few more minutes of watching the other, he still couldn't quite believe he was actually there, it was almost too good to be true. There he had been, wishing Danny would turn up, and suddenly there he was, all beautiful and glowing. When his mind finally registered that the blonde was actually there, Oliver felt overwhelmed with a warm feeling of pure happiness.

And then he was kissing the boy.

It was rare for Oliver to lose control of himself enough to do something that impulsive, but on the rare occasions that he had, it always led to more than he ever wanted it to. Pulling away from Danny, face full of shock, his eyes fixed themselves on his gorgeous face, before slowly dropping to the floor. There they stayed for a few moments, until a voice spoke up from behind him. ”Is this your boyfriend, Oliver?”

And there was the extra drama he didn't want to deal with. Damn his mother, and the stealth skills she seemed to possess as a natural result of her small stature. Spinning on his heel, he turned to look at the little woman, blinking at her blankly as his mind panicked. What could he say? His mind went blank once again, and he found himself nodding. Oh god, what was he doing to himself? The woman looked pleased enough with this answer, though, as she moved to greet the blonde with a warm smile. Danny had only been here for a minute or so, and Oliver had already made things awkward. This was going to be an interesting holiday.

[Danny Bailey]

Danny found himself face to face with a beaming Oliver before suddenly realising that oh no, this must all be a dream. Any second now he'd find himself waking up in his dads house, the heating turned off because his dad forgot to pay the bills, freezing his ass off. He knew he would because..because how else could he explain the fact that Oliver Pace just kissed him and declared him to be his boyfriend in the presence of his mother?

The blonde refused to pinch himself though, deciding that IF this was a dream, he'd better make the most of it. Letting himself be hugged by a woman with a smile just as dazzling as Olivers, he threw a confused but mostly happy look at the Ravenclaw over her shoulder. Boyfriend huh? His eyes seemed to say, but he didn't say a word to rectify the situation. Because, this was all a dream, and if it wasn't, he didn't want to start his visit by fighting with the brunette. They'd been staying away from fights for a while now, and he liked it that way.

"Hello Mrs Pace" He gave her a warm smile back, turning quickly to haul the suitcase inside. "I hope it's alright that I've come over. Oliver invited me before the holidays, but I wasn't sure if you'd be happy to see me here." He chewed on his bottom lip, trying to keep himself from babbling. "I just couldn't spend any more time away from him" Well, if he was supposed to be his boyfriend, it was something he could safely say, wasn't it? "I hope that's okay."

[Oliver Pace]

The words “World Class Ass” must have been lit up in neon above his head by now. He'd shown himself to be one in several cases, and in every case, the poor blonde boy was the victim of his... assery. Oliver met Danny's look briefly, and pulled a face as if to say '...whoops?' Of course, he'd made things awkward for the both of them. And so much more complicated, because now he'd said they were together, they'd have to act like it, and he really, really did not want to do that. All or freaking nothing. They were meant to be friends, just friends, but he wouldn't be able to keep it like that. Not with all the touching and whatever else that would inevitably happen. They'd even have to sleep in the same freaking bed, for goodness sake. Damn. He was an idiot. And poor, poor Danny. It wasn't fair to keep messing him around like this...

But, watching Michaela Pace fuss over the boy, and listening to Danny jabber on, as he did, Oliver had noticed, whenever he was nervous, or happy, or... in honesty, Danny babbled wuite a lot, but every time he did, the taller boy found it that little bit more adorable. Watching the scene in front of him, he couldn't help but grin fondly at them. It was just such a cute sight. What was truly amazing to him was how much happier his mum seemed to be since the boy turned up. Whether she was glad her son was moving on, or happy just to have someone so light and warm in the house, it didn't really matter. What did matter was how she was raining down on Danny now. First, with compliments. ”Aren't you a sweetheart, of course it's okay, you're welcome in my house any time dear...” and then she moved on to questions, ranging from ”Can I get you a hot chocolate?” to ”So how did you get here? Where do you live?” Honestly, the woman could speak for Britain... and the rest of the world, if they asked her.

And then, without even giving Danny a chance to recover from her verbal assault, she was off again, mumbling something about drinks and lunch... Oliver could only assume that the lady was about to get ready to force a whole variety of food down the blonde's throat. Well, at least she was being hospitable. The black haired boy grinned after her for a few moments, before turning to the blonde with the same affectionate smile.

[Danny Bailey]

Danny just let her fuss over him, his eyes warm and a little melancholic as they rested on Olivers face for a moment. He'd missed this. Having a mum to fuss over you, wondering whether you ate enough or got plenty of sleep. It was nice. And if pretending to be Olivers boyfriend was the worst he'd have to do for it, well he'd take what he could. Granted, he'd also have pretended even if Oli's mum was the worst person he'd ever encountered, because for some weird reason it seemed to make the brunette happy right now - see, there was that affectionate smile again. He must be doing something right.

The blonde smiled back tentatively, stripping from his coat and scarf, feeling his cheeks and lips tingle for quite different reasons. It was nice, he mused, being kissed like that, and if their little pretend game meant getting more of that, he was quite happy to play along. His heart would end up broken, sure, but it hadn't really ever healed since their confrontation in the kitchen. He was pretty sure he could deal with this.

"Hi" He whispered quietly, beaming as his mother suddenly came back into view, tugging them both into the living room and demanding the story of their relationship. Sat down on the couch with his hands wrapped around a large mug of hot cocoa, he wondered exactly what to say, and then decided he could smuggle the lies in with the truth. Blowing on the hot loquid, his soft voice recounted how they'd met - during Potions class, how he'd managed to ask him out and blow up the Potion in one go. How they'd hated each other and had managed to become friends over detention. He ended with the night on the pitch, a soft light shining in his eyes as he glanced over at the boy next to him. Yeah, he was definitely playing his part well.

[Oliver Pace]

Oliver caught the look on Danny's face, and felt his heart melt a little. The woman had given up making a fuss on him a while ago, once he'd stopped responding to it, but the moment he needed it, she'd be there again. There was no doubt about that. He couldn't imagine how it'd feel if he lost all of that. Though, the small blonde would probably get all the mollycoddling he could stand whilst he was here. Michaela Pace loved being able to take care of people, and saw it as a shame that her two kids had apparently grown out of letting her do it.

The uncertain smiles and quiet words made him feel rather awkward, and incredibly guilty. It'd be impossible to think how hard this must be for the boy, and Oliver wanted nothing more than to grab him and apologise or... or something. When Danny spoke, the dark haired boy reached out for his hand and opened his mouth slightly, ready to voice his current thoughts, when his mother came hurrying back and ushered them further in to the house.

Gingerly perching on the edge of the seat next to the blonde, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about it. About forcing Danny to be in this situation... Quickly, though, those feelings melted away as he listened to his recount, and found himself moving from staring blankly at the floor, to smiling at it, to smiling at the boy himself. The memories were strangely fond for Oliver... and the look in Danny's eyes... That only made him grin again. Silly, beautiful boy. He couldn't possibly know what he was making the Ravenclaw's mind do at this very moment.

As his mother cooed and awwed over the story, he made a split decision to leave before his mother said anything to make things too awkward (as she sometimes tended to do, these times often showed Oliver exactly where his awful way with words came from). Besides, she'd talk forever if he didn't stop her. Wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, he stood up, pulling the other with him, and led him towards the door, flashing a smile to his mother as he did so. Michaela, shocked enough to see her boy showing so much emotion in one day, simply called after him ”Show Danny your room, sweetie...be good, though. Don't do anything dodgy.”

And that was the classic example of the eloquence members of his family tended to have. Embarrassing woman. Oliver managed to guide the other up the stairs and to his room without crumbling from shame, but once he reached his domain, he collapsed and wasted no time in voicing his quiet apology ”Oh God. I'm so sorry about...that.”

[Danny Bailey]

Danny didn't think he'd ever felt safer than in the others arms. He wasn't sure why that was, why his friends didn't give him the same comfort he felt now, but he accepted it gratefully, leaning only slightly into him as they headed up the stairs to Olivers room. Of course he knew it would end as soon as they were out of view (and it did, and it hurt, but he managed not to show any of it on his face), but he tried not to think of what they were doing and just how broken he'd end up being.

The blonde almost bristled when Oliver apologised, knowing that even though he'd expected it, he hadn't wanted to hear it was all just a ruse to please the woman downstairs. Running fingers carefully through his hair, he took a moment to make sure his voice sounded the way he'd wanted it to. Warm and friendly, with a hint of how much he cared for this crazy brunette. That was just impossible to hide, and besides, he'd have to show it in front of the others mum, so he doubted Oliver would respond to it too much.

"I like her" He said it softly, sitting down on Olivers bed with an almost shy look, as if he were asking for permission. "I've missed that. If I'd brought" you "anyone home, my mother would've fussed over them so much. She'd be making dodgy comments all the time." He smiled wistfully at that. His mum had been his friend for a long time, and she loved teasing her only son, so he knew pretty much how she would've responded to any boyfriend coming along. Pity she never got to see him happy.

[Oliver Pace]

Oliver chuckled lightly, managing to stop his mind from turning to goo at the tone of the other’s voice. Since he’d arrived, Danny was having an increasingly strong effect on the brunette, and he was starting to find it hard to shake off the affection. Propping himself up on his elbow, he tugged the blonde back gently to join him. ”Well, you’ve put her right out of character. She’s not typically like that.”

Absent-mindedly, he started playing with the other’s blonde hair, a thoughtful look crossing his face. ”It makes a nice change, actually. I told you she’d love you.” Another warm smile at Danny. The amount of difference the boy had made to his house in barely an hour was impressive, and his mother…. She seemed so much happier now. It was plain weird, but nice all the same.

Another thought occurred to the tall boy. Sleeping. ”Ah, and I’m also sorry that…Well, you’re probably going to have to sleep right here with me…” He paused for a few seconds, face falling slightly as he reasoned with himself that Danny probably wouldn’t want that. It’d be too awkward for them, wouldn’t it? An insecure tone slipped into his voice ”I mean, I could go somewhere else if you want me to, or sleep on the floor, I don't mind… It’s up to you.”

[Danny Bailey]

Danny was sat on the bed for about half a minute when he was tugged into Olivers arms again. He went a little too willingly, which ought to have scared him, but really only made his eyes soften as he looked at the brunette. Letting him play with his hair, he had an extremely selfish moment and molded himself to the taller boy, his head against the others chest and shoulder. They were curled up together quite nicely, and he could definitely get used to the small rumbling that came from the boys chest when he spoke.

Feeling the words at the same time as hearing them made his heart flutter, and he splayed out his fingers over Olivers heart, tapping out the rhythm absently. It was nice to be so close. Painful when it ended, but nice. He was particularly glad that Oliver had decided to leave off any more apologizing, as he didn't really want to hear this was just for his mums benefit. Way he considered it, they'd play pretend until they were back at school, and then go back to being friends without wasting a word on what had happened.

It did, however, leave the problem of sleeping together. His heart knew what it wanted - very selfishly - but his head tried to reason with him. He could handle being cuddled and adored in public, but being pressed up against him all night? He'd take it though. He'd take whatever Oli surprised him with this holiday. It wasn't real happiness but it was close enough not to think lightly of it.

"It's okay...if you can manage a few nights without wanting to tear my clothes off" Whatever he'd be wearing at night, anyway. Danny chuckled lightly, not wanting to turn this into a hard discussion. "Which I'm sure won't be a problem" He added the last part a lot softer, it was more said to himself than to the other boy. After all, why would Oliver have a problem with him being clothed?

[Oliver Pace]

His heart was betraying him in some major ways today. It started beating sickeningly hard and fast against his ribcage as the other boy curled up against him. And, against his better judgement, he found his arms wrapping themselves around Danny, and holding him closer. Even worse was that, despite the fact that the small niggling, negative part of him was cussing him down for this, he was enjoying it.

The effect it had on him was devastating. He tried to chuckle and sound happy, but it came out more nervous. He went to respond to the blonde and sound normal, but his voice crackled and shook as he did, which made ”I’ll have to try, won’t I?” sound less like a joke and more like he was doubting whether he really could keep his hands to himself. And the more he thought about, the less likely it seemed that he could. Oliver didn’t quite catch the last sentence. If he had, it might had knocked him down a few pegs, but right now, he was overwhelmed with Danny.

”Okay, as long as you’re comfortable with it, that’s… that’s fine…”

[Danny Bailey]

The way Oli said that he'd have to try almost made Danny believe that he was doubting himself, which was absolutely ridiculous of course. Why would he have trouble keeping his hands off of plain ol' Danny Bailey? In fact, most people were quick to withdraw these days, apparently his reputation meant that he was most likely diseased, rather than someone they could go to when they wanted an easy shag. And it was true, these days he didn't really do that part anymore. He hadn't kissed anyone since Oli caught him. Hadn't wanted to either, the look on the Ravenclaws face hadn't been worth feeling a little less lonely.

Now, snuggled in the others arms, he didn't feel lonely at all. He just felt very very safe. And warm. Danny inhaled quietly, getting the others scent deep within his nostrils, wishing he could store it somewhere to remember when things would get hard again. "I can sleep anywhere" He said it softly, his fingers smoothing out creases in the others shirt.

"I'd sleep on the floor if you want me to, but your mum might think we'd had a fight or something...and you don't look like you want to be fussed over all that much" Danny chuckled softly, cuddling into him a little more. "Anything is better than with my dad though, the heating got cut off so I was freezing my ass off most nights." Plus he'd had nightmares, something which made him worry about the upcoming night. What if he started trashing in his sleep, or worse, cried out for his mother?

[Oliver Pace]

”Like I'd let you sleep on the floor anyway.” Oliver regained some of his confidence, managing to laugh normally again. ”Or my mum. She'd go mental. She'd rather I slept outside than let you sleep anywhere other than a bed. That's not good host manners, you know.” He could tell exactly how his mother would react – She'd always liked to be a good host, so much that she'd probably run around the world twice if it'd please them.

”Well, you've met the mother. The only person left in this house is my sister...” Ahh, Sheena. Even if they had a better relationship, the moody pre-teen would probably still be exactly that – moody. As it was, being forced away from her friends at such an important time at least gave her decent reasons to act that way. Still, she was twelve, and a female. Definitely not a force to be reckoned with. ”I think it'd be safer for the whole house if you just didn't talk to her. At all. Because we're talking, like... permanent PMTs here. She's always angry.”

Giving the boy a gentle squeeze, Oliver shifted himself to a more comfortable position and settled down once again, feeling quite drowsy. It seemed to be pretty comforting, having this boy with him. He could probably get very used to this.

[Danny Bailey]

It was settled then. They'd share the nights in a bed. Pressed up against each other. Cuddling, if this what happened now was any indication. He was going to hell. And yet Danny made no move to pull away, or even to tell him that he'd find another place to sleep. It wasn't just about making sure that Oli was happy, that his mum didn't notice. It was very selfish in essence, and he knew that was why he'd get punished in the long term - because he should know better.

"Sheena, wasn't it?" He felt almost sorry for the brunette, having to live with someone who so obviously dealt with anger issues. It also made him wonder, what would happen if he were to really upset the Ravenclaw. How much better was he at controlling his anger? "To be fair, I'd probably be angry too if my parents had called me Sheena." Pause. "If I'd been a girl obviously. Boy too, but thankfully my parents were smarter than that at least."

He stayed silent for a moment, trying to fight down the urge to lean closer to the other and capture his lips in a soft kiss. The longer he thought about it, the harder it was to remember the reasons not to go for it, and he found himself pressing close without explicit permission from his brain. It came up with some lame excuse, whispered against the others cheek, breath hot on his skin. "I think I hear your mum coming up to check on us..." And then Danny Bailey found himself kissing the object of his strong affections.

[Oliver Pace]

Lips again. Oliver would had laughed at what Danny had just said, if the boy hadn't just bloody kissed him. The blonde had a tendency for distracting him recently, and he certainly was doing it effectively this time. A million thoughts rushed through his head in that split second, most of them pointing out that the man was a downright liar. He couldn't hear his mother, and he was betting that the blonde couldn't either. Then, everything in his mind fell silent for a moment, he found himself kissing back.

Just for a moment, though. The lapse of internal conversation didn't last for long, and the moment it came back, it started convincing Oliver that he couldn't be doing this (even though he personally couldn't remember why any more). The brunette tried to ignore it for as long as he could, but eventually, he had to give in to the nagging and pushed the Hufflepuff away as gently as he could. He stared at the other man for a few minutes with a solemn look before peeling himself away from the adorable boy and sat up, shuffling away from him slightly.

”I, uh...” The tall boy mumbled a half-hearted, mostly incoherent excuse, and focused on the floor in front of him. Why did he make them stop anyway? He wasn't sure any more, but he was sure he wished he hadn't now.