You Must Be Tired Of Something [Oli]

[Danny Bailey]

It was three days after those words in the kitchens. Oli saying that he wanted to be friends. It had been hard to hear, even if it was better than the situation had been beforehand. But it wasn't what Danny wanted. It wasn't what Evan wanted, but though he'd allow the boy to call him that, he didn't much feel like him. He felt like regular Danny Bailey, the kid who never got the love he worried he didn't deserve.

So he went back to some of his old ways. Dancing instead of drinking, because that had been a stupid one time mistake. Kissing boys that weren't Oliver, because sometimes he just got so lonely that it all didn't seem to matter anymore.

Right now was one of those times. He was sitting on a table, his arms wrapped around a random faceless, nameless Gryffindor, one who was terribly good at making him forget the world around him. It was all he required from someone right now. He didn't need to find someone to heal his heart, he didn't want someone to fall in love with him. All he wanted was to forget that he even owned a heart, as it felt broken just as it had that day in the kitchen.

[Oliver Pace]

As much as he didn't want to, and had argued with himself whether to go or not, Oliver was on his way to meet Danny. It had taken a heck of a lot of willpower, seeing as he was still mentally insulting himself for that night in the kitchen. He couldn't stop thinking that he'd made a great mistake. He couldn't be just friends with this boy, it was physically impossible, he liked him too much. And now, being around the blonde, or even thinking about being around him, caused him great pain, mentally and physically. Being friends... it just wouldn't work.

But he supposed it had to, because Oliver had (very foolishly) agreed to be friends, and seeing the boy was an unavoidable part of this. So, he got himself psyched up, armed himself with a lollipop (to act like a plug and stop him from saying stupid things) and headed to the music rooms. The tall boy had to stop once again outside of the room and take a deep breath before entering.

And he quickly choked on that breath the moment his eyes found the blonde. Oliver spluttered loudly for a moment as he tried to stop himself from choking on the air he inhaled, then focused his eyes stubbornly on the floor. There was no point running or leaving now, Danny had most definitely heard him, so he'd just have to grin and bear it, and ignore the searing jealousy that was currently burning its way through his gut. To think that that was, or could be him... Stop it, Oliver. He scolded himself, but couldn't quite stop thinking along those same, selfish lines. Truth was, he wanted Danny to himself, entirely to himself. If simply existing in the same capacity as the Hufflepuff was painful, seeing him with someone else was like being stabbed and twisting the knife. He'd known- the boy had known he'd be coming here. He'd been the one to set the time and everything. Was the blonde trying to make him jealous? Oliver doubted it, but if he was, it was working. Unable to make himself move, he stood rooted to the floor in the doorway, staring at the floor with lollipop in mouth, waiting for some sort of acknowledgement, or rejection, or whatever the blonde would do.

[Danny Bailey]

The moment Danny heard someone in the room, he crashed straight back into reality, realising that oh no, he'd agreed to meet Oliver here. He honestly hadn't meant to los track of time, but this looked bad, didn't it? Pushing whoever-it-was-that-he'd-been-kissing away from him, he cast an apologetic look over the boys shoulder, in the Ravenclaws direction. It was filled with so much guilt that it was almost impossible to believe he'd been doing this on purpose. But who knew, Oli could certainly get very stupid sometimes.

"Oli!" The boy he'd been kissing got the hint and made a quiet retreat, eyes flickering to the brunette as he passed him on his way to the door, and for a moment Danny almost wanted to giggle. It wasn't as if his Oliver was going to hit him. They were just friends after all. "I'm sorry, I forgot the time." He bit his lip, realising that he was apologising for something he shouldn't say sorry for. Not if they really were just friends.

The Hufflepuff was on his way to hug him before he could stop himself, so it was an awkward moment when he realised what he was doing, and then another awkward second as he found he didn't really want to let go. He did though, stepping back with a slight flush on his face. This friends thing was hard. "Uhm, how've you been?"

[Oliver Pace]

Well, wasn't this just a swift kick in the balls? Were it not for the fact that he knew Danny knew nothing, or at least very little of his affections, Oliver probably would have assumed it was on purpose. The possibility that it was still played on his mind, until the blonde's voice attracted his attention and wrenched his eyes away from the floor. The boy looked so innocent, and he looked like he honestly felt so bad about it, that he just couldn't be doubted. With a small smile, he shrugged it off. Why should Danny feel guilty? Even if Oliver was inwardly glad he did, it wasn't his place to be upset, or angry, or anything like it. They were only meant to be friends.

Still, that didn't stop him from watching the stranger with what he hoped was a blank face, but knowing how betraying his expressions could be, it was likely it reflected some of what he was feeling. The Ravenclaw watched him leave over his shoulder, before turning back to the blonde... and found himself in a hug.

He couldn't help but freeze up for a moment or so, allowing his brain sufficient time to balance his desires with his morals. Without intending to, Danny was driving him insane. Just when the tall boy finally managed to relax enough to hug the smaller boy back, he'd moved away again. With another small smile, Oliver pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and diverted his gaze away to answer his question, simply because he didn't think he could lie whilst looking at the blonde. ”I'm fine, love. And... uhh, you?”

[Danny Bailey]

He'd called him love. Danny's heart skipped a beat, a smile spreading on his face as he looked at him, practically beaming. He couldn't help himself, Oliver could make him feel awful, but he also made him feel so happy. "I'm.." Thing was, should he be honest or lie to him? Lying was for people who weren't friends, but as their friendship was new and weird as it was, he didn't think telling the truth would really help much. After all, saying that he was miserable because Oli had decided they couldn't be more than friends would just make things (even more) awkward. "Better than I was. I dance again. And I decided that drinking is definitely not something I should do more often."

He chewed on his bottom lip at that, sitting down on the table he'd been at previously, unconsciously putting a bit of distance between them. Swinging his feet back and forth, he looked at the brunette, not noticing that his eyes were wandering over the boys body. He was just...just so cute. Not as sweet and in love with him as he'd hoped, but he was still painfully beautiful.

[Oliver Pace]

Oliver bit down on his bottom lip, but couldn't quite bite back a smile. Damn beautiful boy, why did he have to smile like that? He wasn't quite sure what he'd done to earn such a bright reward, but he was damn glad he had. It was enough to brighten his day, at least. A small, low chuckle escaped him at the mention of the other's drinking. ”Mm, you didn't seem to handle that too well. It's probably for the best, then.”

And now, he had nothing left to say. Painfully aware that the blonde's eyes were on him, Oliver sat himself down against the wall, and proceeded to play with his fingers. He was completely determined not to look at Danny just now, out of fears that he'd have a complete breakdown if he did, but it was difficult. A conscious effort had to keep his eyes from wondering back to the boy, as they were so fond of doing. This uncomfortable silence was killing him, too. An idea hit him, he stopped what he was doing and slowly raised his eyes to look at the blonde.

”Can I watch you?” The Ravenclaw asked quietly, in complete sincerity. ”Dance, I mean...?”

[Danny Bailey]

Danny nodded, joining him in the uncomfortable silence that seemed to fill the entire room. It was thicker and louder than music, and he partially felt like screaming, leaving maybe, or doing something completely stupid like pinning the brunette to the door and snogging him senseless. Oli didn't like him like that, and he was determined to tell himself that over and over again, for as long as it took to sink in properly.

"Watch me?" He furrowed his brows, then smiled another one of those bright smiles. "Oh, dance. Yeah. Yeah, sure." He was probably a little stiff, so a warm up would be good, and of course his evil mind decided that Oli needed to be used for that. It was easier than using a table that seemed to move away whenever he tried, but he was still uncomfortable about asking it. "I'll need your help though. Can you put my leg on your shoulder? I need to stretch..." It'd bring him awfully close to the Ravenclaw but it was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make.

The blonde hopped off the table, looking at him expectantly. He hoped that the other would still figure this was friends-stuff, because he honestly didn't mean to come onto him or make this any harder for himself than it had to be. But it was sweet, the pain he felt, as long as he was with the other boy.

[Oliver Pace]

For a few minutes, Oliver blinked blankly at Danny, as the little blonde looked down at him as if he was expecting something. That face was so damn adorable, that even if he had expected any sort of request, he still would've forgotten what had been said and his train of thought with one glance at the boy. "On my...? Uh, sure." He clambered to his feet with none of the grace or elegance the Hufflepuff had, only to pause and study the boy with a look of curiosity. There was a significanft height difference between the two, and he couldn't quite keep the slightly impressed tone out of his voice when he said "...You can get your leg up that high? Jeeeez, how are you even that flexible? That's..."

The brunette trailed off, simply because he had to. It'd taken him long enough, but the dirtier connotations of what he was saying finally occured to him, and even if Danny didn't recognise it, he certainly did. Face turning ever so slightly red, Oliver bit down hard on his lip and looked down, away from the blonde, all the while trying to force those thoughts out of his head. Not quite recovered, he realised he needed to respond before they got too awkward again, and glanced at the other man, blushing and smiling slightly. "So you- I just stand here, yeah?" His soft voice shook a little as he spoke, but it was better than he'd hoped for - At least he had a voice. The awful things the cute blonde made him think hadn't quite scared him off of talking to him, not yet, at least.

[Danny Bailey]

Danny giggled as Oliver looked at him with that incredulous face, wondering how he'd get his legs up that high. "It's a good practise. Mum used to help me with it a long time ago, but I have to admit she was a little smaller than you are." His mum had been taller than him though, so he should manage. And if not, he could sit down on the table and they could do it that way, though it'd bring them even closer. And Danny wasn't quite sure he could handle that right now. Not without wanting to kiss the brunette, at least.

"We'll see how it goes, I suppose" The blonde stepped a bit closer to his Ravenclaw friend, feeling a small blush creep onto his cheeks as well. "Uhm, could you, maybe, like, grab my knee and help?" It was easier for himself to balance out when he wasn't just throwing his legs onto the others shoulder. The Hufflepuff giggled again, putting his hands on Olivers shoulders. "Aren't you feeling so glad you asked me to watch me dance.." It was said softly, the flush still on his cheeks though he tried to control it a little bit.

[Oliver Pace]

His eyes moved downwards to look at the boy's leg when he was asked to help him out. ”Well, I can't say this isn't a little awkward...” Oliver chuckled slightly in response to the other's question, whilst helping the smaller boy like he'd asked. "But I'm not regretting asking yet." With that, he raised his eyes from Danny's leg to his face, and flashed him a rare, bright smile. Sure, he had to ignore the fact that the blonde was adorable when he blushed, but that didn't mean he shouldn't make an effort to look like he was happy, right?

And even though being around the boy made him feel like he was being painfully and slowly pulled apart, he was happy, especially compared to the way he'd been this past year. In honesty, he was glad to have the blonde around, because his seemingly permanent cheery mood made it impossible to be upset for a considerable amount of time. It was a shame he couldn't take Danny with him wherever he went, he'd make everything more bearable. Snapping back out of his thoughts, he glanced to the knee in his hands once again. "So, uhh, what now?"

[Danny Bailey]

Danny flushed even more as Oliver touched him and said that this was awkward, but he tried to shrug it off. It shouldn't be awkward, after all, they were just friends. Just friends. Swallowing, he pushed a bit closer to the taller male, helping him lift his leg up to the boys shoulder. It was hard, as Oliver was quite a bit taller, but he managed, albeit with a little groan escaping involuntarily. "See...I knew I could do this" He huffed out, pushing a strand of hair from his forehead.

It was then that he realised exactly how close they were, and he flushed a bit more, chewing on his bottom lip before thinking desperately on something to say. "So...what are you doing for Christmas?" It was meant to be a simple question, but of course his mind went into overdrive and he began rambling, eyes fixed on some spot directly right of Olivers ear.

"I'm staying at the castle, because y'know, Christmas with my dad is like a beerfest. He'll miss my mum, and he'll drink even more than usual, and it's just generally not a good idea to be around him when he's drunk. He'll take it out on me, like I gave her cancer" It sounded bitter, but the blonde soon smiled at the Ravenclaw again. "So I hope your plans are better? Are you going to stay here with me?"

[Oliver Pace]

Instinctively, Oliver's hands went to the other boy's hips in some attempt to balance him. He sure had managed to get his leg up, but he didn't look comfortable at all. ”Are you sure?” The black haired boy chuckled nervously, inspecting Danny with a worried expression. It was about now that he noticed his hands had moved, and that the other was close, and had to demonstrate a great deal of restraint to stop himself acting on instinct and push him away. For once, however, his self control acted in his favour, and he managed to hold his position, hands on hips and all. ”You look a little...pained. You're not going to pull anything, are you?” He would have hated for the blonde to hurt himself and be out of action in any way... This castle didn't seem very friendly towards people with limited leg use.

The change in subject managed to distract him quite well. Christmas... Jeez, he'd tried to forget about that one. His mother demanded he came home for the holidays, which seemed ridiculous to him. If the summer holidays were anything to go by, she would be miserable, his sister would be moody and he would be completely ignored. As hard as he tried to get the woman to let him stay here, she wasn't taking any of it. So he'd have to put up.

Though, Danny's holidays sounded quite a bit worse. The concerned look settled on his face and he watched the blonde carefully for a few moments, once again showing a lot of self control in resisting the urge to just gather the boy in his arms right there. His question gave his mind a reason to stop thinking on this, and to move his eyes away from the other's face. ”I wish I was,” He answered honestly. ”My mum wants me to go home though. I have no idea why. Either she's developed some strong sense of family since we got here or she's scared about what I'll do after last-” He caught himself. There was barely a few second's pause before he continued, on a different path. ”Maybe you can come visit me. You'll be more than welcome, I'm sure.” Oliver grinned, not entirely sure whether he was serious in this offer. On one hand, having Danny around would be nice. On the other, their house was pretty small, there was barely enough room for the three of them as it was, and it was probably in the same state he'd left it in – a considerable mess. None of this really mattered, though, because he didn't really expect Danny to sincerely accept anyway. Having taken a minute to consider these pros and cons, he voiced one to the blonde. ”And I'm sure she'll love you to bits. I think you'd be her ideal son.”

[Danny Bailey]

Danny smiled, secretly reeling in the knowledge that Oliver cared enough to worry about him. He gritted his teeth, pushing a little closer so he felt the familiar strain in his leg, and when he did, he groaned softly, unaware of just how compromising this situation was. The others hands on his hips, the sounds, the intimacy, it was all very reminiscent of other things they would never be doing.

The smile faded though as he heard the other speak, saying something that he desperately wished the other would finish. After last what? What had he done? Was it safe to let him go home? Thoughts were whirling in his head, but before he could put any of them in words, he was suddenly invited to the others home.

Reluctantly, it seemed, but still.

He chewed on his lip for a moment, hand having moved to Oli's soft hair where it tangled in the strands without his knowledge or permission. "If you want me to" He voiced quietly, fairly sure that the other was just inviting him to be polite, though his heart was positively aching at the idea. A chance to be away from the gloom of the holidays, and spend it with the boy he was crushing on? Oh he'd get his heart trampled on for sure, but it was still better than longing after him. At least this way they'd get to the less-than-awkward friends stage and he'd be in his life.

"I mean, I hope you're not saying it just to be nice because, let's face it, Christmas at Hogwarts is lonely, and seeing a friend would be nice, but if you'd rather I take this as an empty phrase then I will" Danny frowned a little, knowing that this wasn't what he'd wanted to say, and hoping that Oli would understand rather than get offended.

[Oliver Pace]

Oliver's mind, however, seemed to be overriding any sexual connotation as and when they popped in to his head, so he was simply and blissfully ignoring every thought like this. In a way, he was thankful for his mind's protection. This way, he could handle just being friends, right? Unfortunately, he knew his defences wouldn't last too long, they never did. He'd have to make the most of it while it lasted. So, in his happy, ignorant state, he chuckled at the blonde. ”Were you trying to make a point with that? Because if you were, trust me, I believe you can do it.”

The hand in his hair was a bit harder for him to ignore. Perhaps because it was a bit too familiar for his brain to just block out. Too reminiscent of that night on the pitch...Oliver dropped his gaze and focused on the floor for a while, until he managed to compose himself and stop his urges from getting the bet of him. By then, Danny had finished speaking, and the Ravenclaw had picked up the fact that he didn't think it was an honest offer. ”No no no!” He couldn't quite keep the slightly hurt look from his face as he spoke. ”I'm... Honest, you'd be welcome, for as long as you want. I mean.. it's a small house, but... you being there couldn't possibly make things any more awkward, trust me. In fact, you'd probably make everything a whole lot better... yeah. It'd be nice.”

[Danny Bailey]

Trying to make a point? Why would he try to make a point? Danny looked at the brunette for a moment, confusion written on his face. Then he smiled again, quick and easy, just like everything seemed to be whenever he was confronted with this man. Seemed being the important word in this sentence, because it was neither quick nor easy.

"I like impressing you" He said it fondly, although most of his true sentiments were buried under this thick pile of phrases that buzzed in his brain, going 'no Dan, he doesn't like you, or want you' and 'stop hoping, you ignorant fool! It's never going to happen!'. It made him sad sometimes, but he tried not to show it, not wanting the taller male to think that he made him sad.

Hearing that coming over would make things better settled the internal debate he'd been having. He'd wanted to go even when he figured it was just Oliver being polite, but now...now he was certain that he'd show up. If it'd make the Ravenclaw smile, it was well worth the audible break of his heart.

"I will then, if I can." Mustn't sound too eager. "Things will get better, right? I mean, less awkward?" Danny suddenly sounded insecure and unsure, resisting the urge to bite down on his lip again. "I mean, I know it's my fault for liking you so much, but that'll go away, won't it? And we'll be real friends?"