A/N: This was written for the 24 Hour Pairing Challenge, the number of your penname Challenge, and the As Strong as We are United Challenge III. Percy/Katie was my pair. It was rather challenging. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I hope you guys enjoy this! I'll edit any mistakes as I find them. Thanks for reading. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

Percy Weasley hung his head as he held Katie Bell's hand. She had been cursed, and had been in St. Mungo's for several months. The whole situation left Oliver Wood a mess. Oliver couldn't stay away from his team for too long though since they were on tour, so he begged Percy to visit her for him. He did visit her as often as he could though.

Percy hadn't been too enthusiastic about the idea of visiting her at St Mungo's. He had been afraid of running into his twin brothers. He almost ran into them a couple of times, but he was able to hide just in time. He admitted that he was a coward though. He made sure to come late at night so he would have less of a chance of running into them. He tried to avoid confrontation whenever he could. He only ran into Angelina and Alicia a few times.

The girls had given him curious looks when they saw first him there because the group of friends had been out of touch for so long. He didn't bother providing an explanation though. She had been one of his good friends after all. They had accepted his presence when they learned that Oliver had asked him to be there for her though.

"Katie… you need to wake up. Oliver misses you. I know he isn't here to show you that right now. But he cares for you. So please… can you just wake up? He's a mess right now. We all are."

Percy looked down at his friend as he tried to forget his regrets. He regretted walking out on his family, though he was stuck where he was now. He couldn't back out if he tried. He regretted never telling Katie Bell how he felt for her. He had liked her first, but Oliver had expressed interest in her the moment they saw her, and Percy didn't have the heart to be disloyal to his best friend by going after his girl. So he let his feelings go a long time ago when he started dating Penelope. That didn't end well.

"My life is a mess. I've made so many mistakes. I just wish you would wake up and give me some of your wisdom. You've always been the wise one." Percy sighed as he buried his head into his hands.

"Perce?" Percy glanced up when he heard a weak voice speak suddenly. "Percy…Is..is that you?"

Percy widened his eyes when he realized that the voice belonged to Katie Bell. He jumped up in surprise and let out a sigh of relief as he hugged her. "Katie…I've missed you," he admitted quietly. "We weren't sure if you were ever going to wake up."

Katie suddenly whacked him hard on the shoulder. Percy couldn't help but wince as he placed a hand over it. Katie may have been at St. Mungo's for six months, but she still had her feisty temper.

"What was that for?" Percy demanded, not thinking about what he said.

"You've been an idiot to everybody you care about!" She said fiercely. "First you walk out on your family…Fred and George are still devastated by that. They've told me. And you fought with Oliver a couple of times-" She whacked him harder again for that one.

"Bloody hell, that was a long time ago! We've made up!" Percy said loudly, cursing as she whacked him again.

"I don't care! Best friends don't walk out on each other," Katie said fiercely. "How did you end up on the wrong side of the war?"

Percy closed his eyes tightly. "I was a power hungry Ministry wannabe idiot," he admitted quietly.

Katie's expression changed as she looked at him again. "At least you admit it," she said, sighing as she pulled him in for another hug. "Perce… you've got to go back to your family. They need you."

"I don't know how to go back. I've screwed things up between us. They won't accept me back until I do something to show them that I've really changed. I know it. I just don't know what that something is yet," Percy said quietly. He had just realized that that really would probably be the only way they would take him back. He wouldn't forgive himself if he just knocked on their door and begged for forgiveness.

"That's not true. Family love is unconditional," Katie protested.

Percy sighed as he looked down at his friend again. He knew that she wasn't going to be changing her mind, so he decided that it was time to change the subject.

"So you could really hear us when we talked to you?" He asked lightly.

"Sometimes…I just felt drugged when I heard you guys though. I had no idea what time of the day it was, or what else was going on around me. I wanted to speak to you guys. I wanted Oliver." Katie answered.

Percy tried to ignore the pang in his heart when he heard those last three words. He thought his feelings for Katie had ended a long time ago, but sometimes they came back during times like these. He supposed he might never be over them.

"I'll write to him to let him know you're all right. He'll want to be the first to know," He said finally. He didn't know what else to add to that.

Katie nodded gratefully as she placed her hand around his. "Thanks for being here when he couldn't. It means a lot to me."

It meant a lot to her…Percy replayed those words in his mind.

"That's what friends are for," he heard himself murmur. He was always going to be just one of her best friends. He wanted to ask if she remembered anything about how she got cursed, but he decided that would probably be too difficult to talk about. So he settled for another topic instead.

"I'm really glad you're ok, Bell. I don't know what I'd do if-"he stopped himself from saying more.

Katie flashed him a crooked smile. "It'd take a lot more than a curse to kill Katie Bell," she said with a grin.

"That- that's a good thing," Percy couldn't help stammering. A Healer came in just then, and Percy stood up. "I'll go get Oliver for you," he said quietly. "It'll probably be awhile before he can get here though."

Katie beamed and he couldn't help but notice that her eyes sparkled more when he said Oliver's name. "Thanks Perce. And thanks again for being here." She motioned for him to come over for another hug, and he accepted it.

Percy couldn't help but feel guilty when he hugged her though. "I'll see you later," he murmured as he turned around to walk out. He needed to let his feelings for her go.

"Remember what I told you about your family," Katie called out after him. Percy stopped in his tracks for a moment and sighed quietly to himself. He ignored her last words and set off to visit Oliver again.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!