Percy glanced around the room to make sure that Madame Pomfrey was in her office before he tip-toed to the hall door and opened it. Madame Pomfrey wouldn't allow him to leave if he simply asked her, so he'd have to sneak out. He didn't feel great about doing it - afterall, he WAS a prefect- but some things just had to be done. He was pretty sure that he knew where Oliver would be. He knew that he sometimes snuck up to the Astronomy Tower to be alone. Percy knew that all of the students should be in class, and hoped that Professor Trelawney's students would be in her lofty classroom. He snuck quietly towards the Astronomy Tower before happening to catch a glimpse of himself in a window. He stiffled a laugh as he saw his white and green striped hospital gown, which was much too thin and almost transparent. He muttered "vestio" to himself and was quickly dressed in his Gryffindor uniform. He also noticed that his face seemed to be improving at least a little bit - it almost seemed as if some of the lines had begun to disappear.



He had to shield his eyes from the harsh light of the sun in the Astronomy Tower once he arrived. Everything appeared to be white, and it looked like there was no Oliver. Percy sighed. He was wrong- Oliver had gone somewhere else. He was startled by a small sniffling sound behind him, and Percy spun around to find Oliver sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Percy wasn't sure whether or not Oliver was crying until Oliver looked up and he could clearly see the tears streaking down his cheeks. Percy impulsively lowered himself down to Oliver and embraced him, squeezing him as tightly to himself as he could. It felt nice to have the comfort of another human body with his after the few days that he has just experienced. He held him for what seemed like an eternity before Oliver stopped crying and removed his head from Percy's shoulders. Oliver's brown eyes looked in to Percy's blue ones, and Oliver sniffled again. Percy wanted to make him feel better, so he acted on impulse again. He took Oliver's chin in the palm of his hand and kissed him as tenderly as possible. The kiss was so deep and sensual that Percy could feel goosebumps forming on his arms and legs. Every rational thought left Percy's head and he realized that he didn't care who saw them. Snape himself could walk in right them and see them and Percy wouldn't worry. They kissed until they were dizzy from lack of oxygen (or at least that's why Percy told himself he was feeling so disoriented), and yet still continued to kiss some more. Finally they broke apart, still embracing. Oliver glanced down and whispered quietly "I need help, Perce." Percy nodded and Oliver continued. "I haven't been eating, and Nurse Pomfrey thinks I may have some muggle disease...anorexia or something. I've been going to see her for treatments, but there's really no magical cure. I haven't eaten for days. I...I...even spit out those blueberries you gave me. I'm sorry." he said, still sniffling.

"It's okay, Oliver. I care about you, you know that?" he asked. Oliver nodded. "Will you come back to the hospital wing now? I'll stay with you if you want, until you feel better. We can get over this thing together."

"Okay, Perce, but can we go to the Great Hall first? I'll...I want to try to...eat." Percy swallowed hard at Oliver's request. He knew that he should help any way he could, but he didn't want people to see his face. What would they say? He closed his eyes and thought for a second before responding.

"No problem, Oliver!" After all, love meant making sacrifices.

~* C'est fini! *~