Life, Love and Cancer
Author: Ravenfyre (Michelle Bonner)
Disclaimer: These characters unfortunately do not belong to me. They belong to J.K. Rowling and the Wizarding Press. I wrote this because of two challenges that I was given through another group. So I hope you enjoy.
Warning: This is a death fic.As well as a slash fic.
Percy opened the door and found his apartment filled with candlelight and rose petals. He placed his stuff down on the nearest table.
"Oliver?"
"In the bedroom." He called out.
"May I ask what you have done to my apartment?"
"No but you can come and find out."
A coy smile broached his lips. "Something tells me I am going to like this." He walked through the living room and walked into the bedroom. Oliver was lying on the bed with a very naughty smile on his lips.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Percy asked him.
"You did nothing…I just wanted to let you know that I love you…and make tonight special."
Percy quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because… I want to celebrate us being a couple for three years to the day."
"Has it really been that long? Wow…time has flown quite a bit."
"Silly Weasley…come here." He patted the bed beside him.
Percy removed his jacket and shoes and sat down on the bed. Oliver pulled him down and kissed him passionately. The hours flew by and the next thing they knew they were lying together entangled in each others arms.
"Percy…"
"Mmm…"
"Will you marry me?"
He turned to look into his lovers eyes. "What?"
"Will you marry me? I know this sounds odd, but I know how much I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I never really gave it much thought…I mean I like things the way they are…"
"Yes, I do too…but I want to take that final step…I am ready for that commitment."
Percy thought about it for a moment. "If that is what you really want…then yes…I will marry you."
Oliver smiled and kissed him. He then nudged himself back into his lovers embrace and against his warm body before dozing off.
The next morning the phone rang. Percy reached for it blindly. "Hello?" He asked sleepily.
"Percy Weasley please."
"This is he. Whom may I ask is calling?"
"This is Dr. Benton's office. We received your test results and he would like you to come in as soon as possible."
"You can't tell me over the phone?"
"It should really be explained to you in person."
He sighed. "Alright then…I am on my way in." He hung up the phone and pulled himself quite begrudgingly out of his lover's arms. He showered and left a note for Oliver before leaving for the Dr.'s office.
When he arrived he was immediately taken back to see the doctor. "Percy thank you so much for coming."
"What is this about, doctor?"
"Well we figured out why you are having all those terrible migraines…you may want to sit down for this Percy."
"No I will be alright. What is it?"
"We found a tumor in the temporal lobe of your brain. It may of course be benign but we would have to go in to find out…But based on the severity of your headaches I think it is indeed malignant."
"Are you trying to tell me that I have cancer doctor?"
"Yes, Percy that is exactly what I am trying to say."
He eased into a chair and tried to digest what he just heard. "How long do I have doctor?"
"There is no telling. You could die a year from today or you could die tomorrow. There is no way we could remove it without damaging the brain…and magic will not help in this instance it has spread too far. I am very sorry."
"Indeed." He whispered.
He walked back into the apartment in a zombie like fashion. He was only 23…how could he die of cancer? He is supposed to bury his parents…it shouldn't be the other way around…how was he going to explain this to everyone.
"Good morning love, are you alright?"
He nodded. "No…and I don't think I ever will be again."
"What happened?"
He walked past him. "I don't want to talk about it." He walked into the bedroom and shut the door. He curled up onto the bed and began to sob. Oliver opened the door and was instantly by his side.
"Oh…hon what's wrong?"
Percy buried his face into Oliver's chest and continued to cry. Oliver held him and rocked him back and forth. He had never seen Percy break down like this and he knew something was devastatingly wrong, he just didn't know just how and who it affected…and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out but he knew he had to.
"You need to get out of bed. You need to go to work. You cannot stay locked in here forever."
"I can and I will."
"Will you please tell me what is bothering you? It's been two weeks. You can't keep this to yourself forever."
"I can and I will."
"If I have to I will call the doctor myself and find out what is going on."
Percy's eyes widened. "No! You don't want to know trust me."
"What are you talking about? I need to know. Watching you like this is killing me."
"Then go. No one said you had to be here."
"Why are you pushing me away?"
"Because I don't know what else to do." He sounded a bit frustrated.
Oliver sat down beside him. "I am not going to leave you no matter how hard you push. Please just tell me what it is that's bothering you."
Percy looked into Oliver's eyes…how could he tell him…it would break his heart.
"I don't know how to tell you this…but I-I'm just going to say it…I have brain cancer."
After a moment he looked up at Percy. "How bad is it?"
"It has already spread…there's nothing they can do."
"Have you tried magic?"
"There are no spells or incantations that can cure this…no one thinks of those things."
He bowed his head. "How long do you have?"
"It's undetermined."
"Oliver? Where are you?"
"In here." He called out.
"What are you doing?"
"What no else has thought of."
"What do you mean?"
"I am going to find a magical cure for your cancer if it kills me."
Percy rested a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Hon…it is alright…I am aware that I will die sometime in the possibly soon future…it has taken me a lot of thinking and a lot of time but I am fine with it. If this be my fate, so be it."
"And what of me?" He turned to face his lover. "I cannot live without you Percy, I won't."
"Oliver…I would rather live five minutes having loved you than to die in ten years never knowing your love. After I am gone you will live on…you grow seemingly successful with your job and you will always remember me…I will always be with you."
"Percy, I love you more than life itself and I am not ready to give you up yet. I won't."
"Let's get married Oliver. I would rather spend the rest of my days as your spouse than with little tie to you."
"Percy we are soul mates. How could there possibly be a greater tie?"
"I don't know…but I love you and I want to prove it to you. You asked me to marry you and I am accepting...again"
"Percy I don't want you to do this for my sake."
"I'm not doing it for you entirely…I am doing it for me. I want us to go somewhere and spend time together. Get out of this town and just forget about everything for awhile. Can you do that for me?"
"I can do anything for you."
Percy smiled, leaned in and kissed him passionately. "I love you with all of my heart and soul Oliver Wood. I wouldn't want it any other way."
"You may kiss…" They didn't wait to hear the rest of the man's words. They were married and that was enough for them. They kissed and pulled away with smiles on their faces. They belonged to each other. It was official…not that it ever needed to be…but it was what they both wanted.
"So where are we going for our honeymoon?" He asked playfully, knowing full well where they were going.
"A cruise to the Caribbean." Oliver stated with a smile, knowing he must play along.
"Sounds like paradise." Percy said softly against his lover's skin.
"It is…it is." After a moment a thought came to him. He wanted to tell Percy just how he felt…just in case tonight was his last. "Percy I want you to know how happy you have made me and will continue to make me-"
"Shhh." He placed a finger on Oliver's lips. "I know, my love, I know."
"I really want to tell you, please…I have to."
"Oliver I am not going to die tonight, I am happy and I am not sick…yet. Please just try not to think about it until we cross that bridge. I don't want to wonder every day of my life if that day will be my last. I want to live my life to fullest while I still can."
Oliver kissed his forehead. "You are taking this so well. You are so much stronger than I, so much wiser."
Percy laughed. "I am no wiser than you…it just took a good friend to get through to me…I realized how much time I wasted just thinking about it and getting depressed about it…and suddenly it hit me. Why should I waste time thinking about death when I could still live? You helped me to see that…by your will and refusal to allow me to…but now I think it is you who needs to come to terms with it. Some things are indeed out of our grasp. We cannot fix everything…and we are mortal…what ails me is an evil plague that will eventually devour me. But it will never have my heart nor my soul, for I have pledged them to you, given them to you. This disease can take everything I have, but it will never have my heart and soul…it is you Oliver Wood who has won them over."
"I love…God how much I love you…you are indeed wise, and until this very moment I wondered when you were going to die and if it would be in my arms. I was afraid it would happen….every night….but you are right. I shouldn't worry…I should allow my love for you guide my actions. Let us live life to the fullest and do all we can together. I cherish every moment I spend with you, and I will be damned if I will let this cancer of yours control how we live our lives."
Percy leaned in and kissed him. "So…what do you stay we start living?"
"What did you have in mind?"
Percy smiled…pushed his lover on the bed and removed his own shirt. "I think you could figure it out."
Oliver smiled and flipped their positions. "I am much better on top." He removed his shirt and leaned in to kiss his spouse.
The night was looking up…it would indeed be a great night of passion.
Oliver ran after Percy on the sandy beach. Their honeymoon had just ended and they had been home a week at the most. They were highly enjoying themselves. "I will catch you."
"I am counting on it." He smiled as he ran faster and decided to run along the shoreline.
Oliver was a good distance behind him, he was going to try and run up the beach but he began to get dizzy. He stopped running and began to walk. He put his hand up to his forehead, his sight going in and out, until he blacked out.
Oliver saw Percy fall. He ran faster, screaming his lovers name as he did.
Oliver sat down in the waiting room with the rest of the Weasley family. He kept looking around for their doctor. After an hour of waiting the doctor came out to the waiting room.
"Oliver Wood?"
He stood. "That would be me."
"I am afraid that your Percy's cancer has spread. He is dying. He may last a week at most, but at this point he would be lucky to survive the night."
Oliver bowed his head. "Can we see him?"
"Yes. He is in room 263."
Oliver walked into to Percy's room and his heart fell. Percy was hooked up to machines and he was lying there lifeless, it looked as if he was already dead. Mrs. Weasley began to sob at the sight of her son. Mr. Weasley became somber and embraced his wife in comfort. Ron, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie stood in the back of the room, somber expressions upon their faces. This was the first big disaster to hit the Weasley family. How could they survive the loss of one of their own.
Oliver walked over to him and grabbed his hand. "Hey Perce. Please hold on. You will come through this, you can fight it….Please fight this for me, for your family."
There was no reponse. Just the steady beat of Percy's heart on the heart monitor.
"If you go, know that we all love you very much. I love you very much. These past few months have been the best months of my life. We really lived, and we didn't let anything bother us. Not even the cancer could get in the way of our happiness. I will always remember you and love you until the day I die. And I will find a cure for this cancer. Chemo didn't work, none of your treatments did. So I will find a way that magic can cure it. I love you Percy."
There was a flutter in the heart monitor and then it re-stabilized. Oliver stayed their the whole night and kept trying to figure out his cure that he never gave hope on. He was distracted when Percy flat lined. He rushed over to his bed side.
"Percy…Perce….oh no, please I'm not ready…please, Perce, come back!" He bowed his head and rested it on Percy's chest as he sobbed. His life would never be the same now that the love of his life was gone. He felt like an empty shell…with a adiing memory. He made a vow to Percy and he would stick to it. He would find a cure for brain cancer and he would save others. He lost the man he loved to a deadly disease but he had Percy's undying love and more memories than he can remember, three and a half years to be precise. He would always cherish Percy's memory and the cure would be in honor of his lost loved.
