(Edited... hmmmmm oh yeah July 18th)

Percy's POV:

I blink awake, and the pain from my cuts, although dull, reminds me of my predicament. I blink a few times, unsure of why I woke. I'm pretty sure the pain medicine wore off, so maybe I can treat it myself? I glance around the room and make sure that nobody is there, before stiffly getting out of bed and stumbling over to the table on the other side of the room where I can see a glass of water. I dump a majority of the contents of the cup on my head, and then carry it back to my bedside. I sit and peel off my shirt, wincing slightly. I unravel the tight wrap around my chest with practiced ease and peel back the gauze that the medwitch had applied to the gaping hole in my chest. The three long lacerations were starting to bruise, and the strange green salve Madam Pomfrey had applied earlier that night (yesterday?) was gone, probably sank into the cuts? I'm not a doctor.

Experimentally, I poke the skin at the edge of one of the cuts and wince. The area around the bright blue string holding all my organs in is especially tender, and I grit my teeth as it continues to sting. Carefully, I pour some of the water into my cuts, and the pain eases. I can see them healing while I squish the gauze back into place and wrap the bandages around my chest again. Self-consciously, I drag my fingers down one of the long scars on my shoulder. Oh, heck. Harry must have seen that earlier. Oh no.

I'm too tired for this.

I sigh and force my shirt back over my shoulders. I fall back into my bed and wince, before adjusting my position and resting my head on the pillow, facing the door. I focus on breathing slowly, one of the techniques I learned to help me sleep after… there. I lie in my bed, and work to keep my mind empty. Slowly the edges of my vision start to darken and I relax a little more.

The door creaks open.

I startle slightly, but try to remain as still as possible. I can hear my heart beating loudly and I force my eyes to stay closed. My ears search for any kind of sound. There are a few footsteps and then the door eases closed. The silence rings in my ears. I risk easing my eyes open. There's nobody there. Either someone came in invisibly, or whoever it was didn't see what they were looking for. Hopefully, it's the second one. I continue to lie, still, in the same spot for what seems like hours, before my heartbeat slows and I finally return to the warm grasp of morpheus.

Harry's POV, the next day

Why am I so happy that I got any sleep at all last night? I blink and then yawn. Ok, maybe not that much sleep. Whatever. Sleep is Sleep. Ok. So… Today's Sunday? Yeah. So, Sunday, breakfast. Then I should visit Percy.

I'm still a little confused about what happened last night. I can't discuss it with Hermione or Ron, because I didn't tell them I was going to see him. I think they would be mad if they knew they were left out, and anyways, I was probably just tired. There are plenty of logical explanations for this, I'm sure.

I sigh and push myself into a sitting position, freeing myself from the captivating warmth of my bed and blankets. I rub my eyes and feel around for my glasses, which I'm fairly sure are tangled somewhere in my sheets. Eventually my hand closes on the round frames and I slide them onto my face. Ignoring the large smudge in the corner of my vision, I get up and gather a random shirt and some jeans from my trunk before making my way into the bathroom and quickly changing. I can hear the sounds of some other people waking up, and I push my pijamas back into my trunk. I stumble into the common room and then continue walking out the 'door' and into the hallway.

Sometimes I really hate those moving stairs, I mean they're cool and everything, but at 7:00 in the morning when I just woke up? Nope.

When I finally reach the dining hall, I slump onto the table dramatically next to Hermione, who's already awake and reading a book. Figures. She spares me a questioning glance, before smiling lightly at my slumped form, and probably, my eyebags. I stare up at her.

"Well, good morning to you" She says and turns back to her book.

I mumble back at her and start to fill my plate with a pile of food. Moments later, Ron joins us and scarfs down a huge pile of food. I continue to sip contemplatively on the large mug of coffee I found. The meal passes in a comfortable silence. After we are all finished, I get up and drag them towards the hospital wing.

After promising to the medwitch that no, we will not wake Percy up, she lets us quietly pull a couple of chairs next to Percy's temporary bed and wait for him to wake up.

I continue working on my potions work, an half foot essay that I'm nearly halfway done. No one but Snape would give us homework on the first day of school.

Slightly considering just writing 'don't, or they'll explode in your teacher's face which isn't necessarily a bad thing…' I end the page with the typical first grade ending: 'and that is why you must brew perfect potions.'

What? Does it look like I care?

"Whatcha doing?" Percy questions, which startles me. He's leaning towards me, probably about to fall off his bed, trying to see what I'm writing. I shoo him back into a lying position.

"Potions" I grumble, rolling up the scroll and shoving it back into my bookbag.

"Oh. I should probably do that shouldn't I." He pauses "Maybe you could ask Draco to grab my bookbag for me?".

"Snape's the only one who gave out homework so I'll just ask him for an extra copy." I reply, hoping to avoid talking to Malfloy. Percy makes a bit of a face but then smiles.

"Thanks, so what's up? You look tired"

I decide that telling him that I went to watch him sleep last night is probably a bad idea, so I say "Hermione kept me up reading books about Hippogriffs, so we can figure out why he attacked you and Malfoy."

"Oh… " he makes a face again. "Draco was just being a little rude. Buckbeak didn't like that very much."

"Well that still doesn't explain why he attacked you"

Percy squints, and looks a little contradicted for a minute before offering to help with the research. Jokingly, I hand him the book on hippogriffs, the one written by the hippogriff, expecting him to think it was funny.

But nothing happens

He flips a few pages, and then looks up "why are you staring?"

Hermione decides that now is a good time to join in the conversation "but.. you… the book… speak Hippogriff…"

Percy looks quizzically at us. "That book… it's written by a Hippogriff. We haven't been able to translate it"

Percy mutters something angrily under his breath.

OKAYYY well. I guess that was a hiatus? Unplanned? Yes. oops. Well… anyways hopefully I'll have the next edit done sometime soon.