The first time she kissed Percy, Hermione thought his lips tasted like apples. The way he looked at her, and his glasses were smudged and crooked, and one of his nostrils was slightly larger than the other, and his ears and his neck and his nose all turned red, he looked so silly that she wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry.

The first time Oliver kissed Percy, the tears leaked out from behind his glasses and were angrily brushed away. Oliver was scared, but he wrapped his hands around Percy's thin fingers, and Percy kissed his hair and smiled.

Sometimes, when Hermione would kiss Percy when no one was looking, he would tell her, in his prefect voice, that really, he was in a relationship with Oliver, and that this was certainly not appropriate behavior. Later he said, leaving the lingering apple taste in her mouth, that maybe it was alright, as long as it was just kissing.

Often Oliver felt guilty about corrupting Percy. He was so perfect, and what would his co-workers at The Ministry think, and what would the Weasleys think? Percy would look at him very seriously until Oliver felt positively silly for worrying so much, and Percy fluttered little kisses on his eyelids.

The last time he kissed Percy, he laughed and pushed Oliver away, told him that he was going to be late for Quidditch practice, told Oliver he better get off him, he was mussing his robes, told him to be sure to be home in time to dress for dinner at The Burrow. And Oliver smiled at him so hard that his stomach hurt.

The last time Hermione kissed Percy, he was still and cold, everyone said he looked like he was sleeping, he was so peaceful. Oliver had screamed that no, no he wasn't sleeping, he was dead because Percy muttered and shifted in his sleep, and never lay so still. When Mrs. Weasley led him away, Hermione pressed her lips against Percy's mouth. Her tongue tasted like salt and cigarettes, and his lips were cold and hard. For the first time, Hermione wept because she couldn't taste the apples.