Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Harry Potter, especially not Percy Weasley. They are JKR's. There may be spoilers from Deathly Hallows so don't read if you haven't read that. :) Slash pairing, eventually…probably. PercyOliver. There is some cussing later on in this chapter. Percy is very disapproving of swearing. Anyways, on with the show! Enjoy!

"Bonjour monsieurs et madames, c'est huit heures et demie en Angleterre, nous sommes à notre destination finale. Ayez un beau jour et merci pour l'usage du service de train de Channel Tunnel."

Percy awoke to a metallic woman's voice floating out through the speakers in their carriage. He did not understand it, but he took it to mean that they were in England and that they could get off of the train.

"Hello sirs and madams, it is eight thirty in England, we are at our final destination. Have a good day and thank you for using the Channel Tunnel train service"

Oh. Well, he'd been mainly right. Percy frowned, realising he was leaning on something solid, but comfortable…Straightening up, he looked to his left and realised he had been leaning on the previously slumbering Oliver's shoulder. Blushing slightly, he realised that not only had he been asleep on his friend, but said friend had been watching him with an amused expression. Oliver smirked, saying,

"Why, hello Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice doze?"

Percy narrowed his eyes, "Shush, you. We can get off the train now, and I'm guessing you want to get me to my no-doubt furious mother a.s.a.p?"

"You're right about that. Well, come on. We need to find a place to Apparate."

The two men stumbled off the train, still partially asleep, and Percy was just about to stretch when Oliver yanked him into the nearest men's' toilets, "What?! Oliver, why are we going in here, I don't need to go—"

"Shut up! Just get into that stall there!"

Oliver forcefully shoved Percy into a stall, following him and locking the door, drawing a surprised exclamation from the smaller man, "Er, Oliver, I dunno what you intend to do, but—"

"Shh! I'm not gonna do that, we're gonna Apparate. Now, take my hand."

Percy wiped his clammy hand on his jeans nervously, before placing it in Oliver's warm, dry one. Oliver mouthed a countdown down to one, then spun on his heel, and the two men disappeared with a loud crack.

Moments later, they appeared on the steps of number 12, Grimmauld Place. Letting go of Oliver's hand, Percy bit his lip, "Oh God…what is mum gonna say…?"

Oliver waved off his worries with one hand, knocking on the door, "Oh, shut up, she's probably going to have a bit of a go then ask you why the hell you did it. Can't say I'm not curious…"

The door swung open and a flustered Mrs Weasley looked out, saying loudly, "PERCY?! Percy, is it you—Oh." Looking down, Mrs Weasley took in the exhausted looking Oliver, and her nervous looking son. Not quite sure what to do, she tugged them both in, shut the door, then took a deep breath, then…

"PERCY WEASLEY, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! DID YOU NOT THINK OF THE EFFECT YOU'D HAVE ON US IF YOU DID IT?! YOU ARE SO LUCKY THAT OLIVER WAS THERE, OTHERWISE I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU!"

"Erm…Mrs Weasley, he'd already be—"

"YES I KNOW, NO NEED TO BE A SMART ALECK—oh my, I don't know why I'm yelling at you dear, you did save my boy after all," Mrs Weasley have a warm smile and patted Oliver's cheek fondly, before turning to Percy with a look like ice, "You. Go in there and explain to your family what exactly was going through your mind. They have all been worried sick about you, you owe them, and me, an explanation." The warm, affectionate smile returned as Percy marched stiffly into the dining room, where he was met by yells from his other relatives.

Mrs Weasley looked up at Oliver proudly,

"Thank you so much for saving him dear. You're a true Weasley, just like dear Harry…would you like some tea and cake, dear? I just made a honey cake now, I think its still warm—"

"—Yes, thank you Mrs Weasley. That sounds great, thank you. I take one sugar in my tea," Oliver replied, cutting off Mrs Weasley's rambling, "But don't rush yourself, you must've been worried sick these past few days."

Mrs Weasley flushed slightly, "Oh no dear, we were all sure he'd be okay with you."

She walked briskly into the dining room, shooting a glare in Percy's general direction then setting about making tea in the adjoining kitchen. Oliver followed into the dining room, leaning in the doorway and waiting for the shouting to subside. However, he did not quite expect what happened next.

Percy stood up indignantly, shouting loudly with tears in his eyes, "STOP IT! Stop acting like I'm a head case! I feel like its MY FAULT Fred's dead, and you're all too busy shouting at me for doing it to even think about my reasons for trying to do it! JUST STOP IT!"

Percy barged past Oliver, and Oliver looked to him as he passed, seeing the brief sparkle of a tear falling from his face. It landed on Oliver's hand, and he struggled to keep his expression from changing to one resembling distress. It hurt to see his best friend like that, so he walked into the dining room and took to Percy's seat, leaning on the table and saying quietly, dangerously, "Right then. I understand that you are upset and scared about Percy, but there was no need for that."

Arthur Weasley looked at the Quidditch player sharply, "I'm not sure if this is really your business, Oliver."

"With all due respect, Mr Weasley, this is bloody well my business seeing as I was the one who stopped him from making a nice stain on the French pavement!" Oliver's temper flared, his eyes glinted fiercely, but as soon as he had coughed, the trace of hot-headedness was gone, "Is it possible that I could tell you my opinion of this situation before I go upstairs and prevent your son from killing himself again?"

Mr Weasley sighed, shaking his head disbelievingly before he muttered, "Go on…"

Oliver nodded curtly at him, smiled briefly at Molly Weasley, who had set down a slice of cake and a cup of tea in front of him, and took a deep breath before beginning, "Well, the way I see it is that Percy has been in turmoil since he went and started kissing Ministry asses. Percy loves you guys, really and truly, but we all know he had wanted to get into the Ministry since he was a kid. I remember being stuck in a room with him at Hogwarts, all I'd hear was, 'Ministry this, Ministry that, I love the Ministry'…then again, with me it was the same, only about Quidditch…" He shook himself, stopping himself from going off on a tangent, and continued, "Now, let's all think. Percy got to a high position in the Ministry in a matter of months, and let it go to his head. You cannot honestly say that you wouldn't have done the same. At first, the Ministry was simply hiding things from the public, not run by someone under the Imperious Curse by You-Know-You, so he did not honestly realize a lot of the things he was told were lies."

George Weasley blinked slightly, looking at Oliver, "That doesn't explain why he tried to kill himself when Fred…" He choked, not able to finish the sentence. Oliver nodded in understanding. George had been used to being one of a duo…now he was left as one in a party of one, half of a soul. Oliver sighed,

"Yeah, I'm getting to that. Now, when the war started, officially, it was like Percy was stuck on one side, and was fighting against his own family. He'd hear some warped opinions of you all from within the Ministry, so had emancipated himself to a certain extent, but even so, you were still his family."

Mrs Weasley stifled a sob behind a lacy handkerchief, and Ginny Weasley was staring blankly down at the table. Bill was gripping Fleur's hand and looking at Oliver with respect in his eyes, and Charlie was blinking rapidly. Mr Weasley simply stared, open-mouthed.

"So when he managed to get to Hogwarts, to fight on our side, and ran into you guys, everything he'd done probably came rushing to his mind all at once. I'm only guessing, but I'm thinking you guys didn't welcome him back straight away. So then he comes out with the big apology, you all welcome him back, and the fighting begins. Percy Weasley gets his family back. You're all fighting someone, somewhere, and it just so happens Percy was fighting with Fred…" Oliver smiled weakly, taking a gulp of tea, before saying simply, "He was there when Fred…well, you know. He was joking with Fred at the time. He thinks he distracted Fred and by extension caused him to…you get me. Just think about how he must feel. Now, if you're all okay with it, I'm gonna go make sure Percy isn't doing something stupid. Wait…any questions?"

The Weasleys stared down at their laps, stunned. Mrs Weasley gestured for Oliver to go, and so he did, taking the plate with the cake on it with him. He paused briefly, seeing a pair of Extendable Ears discarded on the floor, as if dropped from where someone had been using them, and heard faint running footsteps. Oliver smiled. Harry was off seeing Teddy Lupin, Ron and Hermione were probably off distracted somewhere (he could guess what they were doing, but did not want the vision in his head), and all of the other Weasleys were in the dining room, except one. Taking the stairs two at a time, Oliver, knocked at Percy's door, not waiting for a reply before entering.

Percy sat on the windowsill outside the open window, staring down at the ground. Obviously no one outside could see him in the hidden house, but he seemed to be measuring the distance of a fall from the window he was sitting at. Oliver sighed, simply, swinging himself out of the opened window to sit next to Percy. It was a squeeze, and difficult to achieve while he was holding a plate of cake, but he managed, before looking at Percy and saying simply,

"You do realize, that if you dare do that again, I will just do a Cushioning Charm again and you will most likely be shipped off to the St. Mungo's mental ward?"

Percy sighed, closing his eyes, then opening them to stare out at the houses around them,

"Yeah. I know. I'm not gonna do it."

Oliver nodded firmly, before smiling, "Cake?" He made a swiping motion with his wand; the slice of cake separated into two smaller halves. Percy snorted, looking at Oliver oddly, "You are one strange man. But fine." He took one of the halves and bit into it,

"So um…what happened after I, ah, left?"

Oliver cocked an eyebrow, "Nothing much, but you dropped your Extendable Ears."

Percy flushed, "How are you so sure they were mine? They could've been anyone's, for all you know Crookshanks could have dragged them down—"

"—But he didn't, did he? All of the Weasleys, apart from you and Ron, were in the dining room, with me. Harry is visiting little Teddy Lupin, Hermione and Ron are…occupied…so that leaves you. I heard running footsteps, and seeing as you are the only person who could have been running at the time…" Oliver smiled softly, looking out at the sky. It was only just getting to 10 o'clock in the morning, and the skies were clear and blue, much like Percy's eyes, he thought, or Ron's, or any Weasley who happened to have blue eyes, and not brown ones. He glanced at Percy who was also looking out at the scenery, and saw the small fluffy clouds reflected on his horn-rimmed glasses. Percy stared back at him.

"What?" he inquired softly, having finished his cake and had dusted off crumbs that weren't there (Percy was even a neat eater, Oliver thought dryly). Taking off his glasses, he cleaned them with a cloth he drew out of his pocket, then replaced them, "No, seriously, what on earth are you staring at?"

It was not until that moment Oliver realized he had been staring at Percy's freckles.

A faint smile came to the Keeper's face as he commented absent-mindedly, "Oh, nothing, just your freckles."

A look of horror came to Percy's face, "What? Why? Have I got more? Oh God, I hate them so much, they're so hideous and they make me look as if I have dirt on my face, which I never would. Wood, how is it that you spend all your time outdoors and I spend mine indoors and yet I am the one with freckles? I wish I didn't have them…I don't suppose it would be possible to transfigure them off? Fred and George were always telling me fake spells to get rid of them, Fred always liked seeing my reaction when the spell turned me into a huge cucumber or something ridiculous like that --"

The rant was cut short when tears sprung to Percy's eyes upon thinking of Fred. Oliver paled, "Perce? You…okay?"

It was then he noticed Percy's hands pushing his body closer to the edge of the windowsill.

Hauling Percy back inside (Oliver noted he landed with a limp thud), and ducking back inside himself, he helped Percy up and held his wrists tightly, speaking to the smaller man who now had tears rolling down his cheeks, like glass, or melted snow…

"Percy. Its okay. I'm here."

Oliver braced himself as the redhead wrapped shaking arms around him and hugged him back warmly, patting his back soothingly as he choked out sentences that made no sense but at the same time expressed all the grief he held in for the sake of his family. Yes, Oliver could make out words, phrases, but it wasn't important. All that mattered was that he was here for his friend, his best friend in fact, when he was crying and clutching at the back of Oliver's sweater, and full of sorrow and guilt, thinking no one else was there. Oliver whispered words of sympathy and reassurance quietly into Percy's ear, all the while moving them so that they could sit on Percy's bed and Percy could lie in Oliver's arms until he calmed down.

After a few hours, Percy's sobs had subsided to dry hiccoughs, and Oliver smoothed the hair back from his friend's flushed and wet face, "There now. Do you feel better?" Percy nodded tiredly, before choking out, "Its just that I can't believe he's…g-gone." Oliver smiled understandingly, before saying, "My parents once had another baby. I had a little sister. Her name was Jessica. She was born prematurely, by about a month and a half, so she was put into intensive care. But she died after about 2 weeks…My mum was stuck in the hospital too, apparently they thought there might be complications with her after the birth like there was with me."

Percy gave a small gasp, before murmuring into Oliver's shoulder, "Christ, Oliver, I'm so sorry…" Oliver waved off the sympathy with a flick of his hand, "Oh, no. Don't. I was about 5 at the time. You see, my parents had me young; they were both 16. Childhood sweethearts who ended up sticking together. It was lucky me and my mum survived, because I was born prematurely too, but only by three weeks. And seeing as my mum was just barely 16, labour was hard on her. But anyways, that's not the point. I never truly knew my little sister, but I remember going to see her and my mum every day, and holding Jessica's tiny hand. It really hurt when she died, but more importantly, it hurt less after a while. Now it only hurts a little when I think about her. The point is, no one is ever truly gone if you remember them, Perce. Fred did everything he wanted to do: he played Quidditch on Gryffindor's Quidditch team with his twin brother, they made a dramatic exit from school after only getting 3 O.W.L.S apiece, and he opened his own joke shop, which was better even than Zonko's, with his brother again. He had a good life, Percy, wouldn't you rather remember that?"

Oliver felt Percy nod into his shoulder, then found himself face to face with Percy, who had drawn back from Oliver's embrace. He scrubbed at his eyes with his fists like a tired child, then smiled softly, "Thank you, Wood."

"Percy, for God's sake, call me Oliver for once," Oliver said irritatedly, though with a small smile still on his face. Percy blushed, "Ah well, you know, old habits die hard, and all that…" He paused, looking at his position on Oliver and blushed an even deeper red, untangling himself, "Oops, sorry…got a bit out of it, y'know, and um—"

Oliver smirked, cutting him off, "—Shut up. We're best friends, I wouldn't think there was a hidden meaning to being practically in my lap with your arms around me…oh wait."

Percy thumped him on the arm playfully, "Stop that. Anyways, shall we go down and see my family? They might be wondering what exactly we were doing up here."

"Mmm, I suppose so. But anyways, how can you be sure they haven't been using Extendable Ears all this time?" Oliver smiled, getting up and heading to the door, before opening it and looking down, amazed, "Well, butter my bottom and call me toast. They have been using Ears."

Percy's eyes widened in a comically shocked expression, before he shouted – actually, more like shrieked like a girl, Oliver thought, "Butter my bottom and call me toast?!", before proceeding to laugh hysterically, again, like a girl, Oliver could not help but think. Percy was a lot like a girl, come to think of it…Shaking his head, Oliver waited until the laughs had subsided, then said worriedly, "Wait…that means they've heard you um…sobbing and…basically everything. Um…how do we go about facing them?" Percy wiped his streaming eyes with a weak giggle, apparently in high spirits, "Easy, we bring them the Ears, and tell them they left them behind at my door." The redhead stooped next to Oliver to pick up the Ears by the flesh coloured string, and set off with the ear part dangling, and moving around the pick up sounds. Oliver shook his head with a chuckle, darting forward to pick up the ear, before falling into step with Percy, grinning devilishly before starting a conversation again.

Grin. "Oh, by the way…Percy?"

Glance. "Yes Wood—I mean, Oliver?"

Smirk. "Your freckles are cute. Like cinnamon sprinkles."

Blush. "Um, thank you Wood—I mean, Oliver! It was a bit random though, what brought it on?"

Smile. "Your cuteness."

Flush. "…Are you trying to wind me up?"

Laugh. "Yes, Percy."

The pair entered the dining room and placed the Ears on the dining table, amid a sea of blushes and shifty glances. "By the way, someone forgot these," Percy said dryly, with a small smile to his family. There was a sudden thud and squeal of delight when Molly Weasley leapt out of her chair so quickly that her chair swung back and fell to the floor. She tackled her son in a fierce hug, "Oh, Percy! Don't you ever worry us like that again! We're sorry for being so hard on you!"

Percy nodded, patting his mother awkwardly on the back, glasses askew, "Its okay, Mum, I've got Oliver watching over me now, he won't let anything happen." He grinned over his mother's shoulder at Oliver who flushed a Weasley-esque shade of red and ran a hand through his brown hair, "Ah, well, its nothing really, he's my best friend—oof!"

Molly Weasley had enveloped Oliver in a fiercer hug, "Oliver, dear, thank you so much for…well, everything." She drew back with a look in her eyes, and Oliver nodded dumbly, understanding that she also meant his long rant to them about Percy's mental state. He blushed, "No, really, it was nothing…it's the least I can do since you're all putting up with me staying here while they rebuild my flat…"

Percy frowned, "Sorry? Rebuild your flat?" He had thought that all of the remaining Order members were staying at Grimmauld Place for celebrations and reports back from hunting down the remaining Death Eaters…then again, Mundungus Fletcher would have been here, he mused, waiting expectantly for a reply. Oliver nodded to himself, "Oh yeah, of course, I didn't tell you. After the battle ended, some Death Eaters who didn't quite make it to Hogwarts to fight – other wizards and witches must've held them off I suppose – took out their anger at You-Know-Who's defeat on a nearby Muggle block of apartments, which I happen to live in. Luckily the block only has four floors – two apartments on each floor – and a penthouse on top, and I'm on the left hand flat on the fourth floor, didn't get hit much, my wards were pretty strong. My landlady is a witch, so she knew about the wards, and she's re-building the damaged bits and strengthening the wards for me."

"Oh. Well. Right. Well. Okay…" Percy nodded fervently, then came to a realization, "But what about your broom? Surely it was in your house?" Oliver smacked a hand to his forehead in sudden thought, "Oh yeah! Christ, thanks for reminding me, I've gotta go pick up some stuff! My broom didn't get hit thankfully, and I've gotta pick up that and some other stuff, speaking of which. Mrs Weasley, may I use the Floo?"

Mrs Weasley nodded, patting Oliver's cheek fondly, "Please call me Molly, dear. Of course you may…just don't get ash on the carpet when you come back. Percy, be a dear and go with him to help carry his things." Oliver began to protest, "Mrs – I mean, Molly, I'm sure I can handle it, I wouldn't want Percy to overstrain himself –" Percy laughed loudly, "Honestly Wood, don't be stupid, of course I'll help. After you."

Oliver frowned, pouted, then gave a small smile, nodding his acceptance of the matter before taking a small amount of white powder from the pot by the fireplace and throwing it in. Percy admired how nicely the emerald green flames lit his face, before shaking himself and listening to the address spoken.

"Number 9, Hemmingway Estate!"

Oliver shot off, and Percy soon mimicked him, stepping into the emerald flames after throwing his powder in and shouting the address once more.

"Number 9, Hemmingway Estate!"

Author's Note: Bit of a longer chapter this time, to make up for the slow update. I've had some problems with my back, neck and shoulders, so I couldn't finish this chapter till it was better. What do you think? Tell me. Next up will be a short interlude with Hermione and Ron. Will be unrequited Hermione/Ron, because thinks are seldom what they seem. It was Hermione who kissed Ron, after all. ;) After that you'll see Oliver's flat. Hoorah! Anyways, tell me what you think, and keep reading! Thank you to you all if you review…I've had 689 hits, 1 fav., and 7 alerts and only 8 reviews, which I find slightly amusing really. Anyways. Bye for now:)