Gabwr - thanks again for reviewing! Means a lot. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Zoran - Glad you liked the homework bit. A bit subtle but I thought it was something that Percy would be concerned about. Keep the pep talks coming and I'll keep the chapters coming.

Percy opened his eyes. He wondered how long he had been asleep? How long had it been since he had gotten sick? He wasn't sure. Through the haze of the fever he had completely lost track of time. He looked at the clock on the wall, it read nine o'clock. Was it morning or night though? There were no windows to clue him in.

Looking from the clock, Percy glanced over at where Bill had been sitting. Bill was gone and in his place sat Oliver. Oliver had a book open. Because of the angle at which the book was being held Percy couldn't make out the title of the book. Looking up from the book, Oliver saw that Percy was awake.

"Hey, sleepy beauty's awake," Oliver said lightly, closing his book. Percy recognized the cover of their potions book. Oliver was a good student except when it came to potions even though he had managed to score high enough on the O.W.L. exam last year that Snape couldn't keep him from continuing..Oliver hated potions though so Percy figured he'd just continued potions just to annoy professor Snape.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I figured my best friend needed me more," Oliver told him. "Besides, without you to keep me from adding wrong ingredients to my potions, they're probably better off without me. I may have caught the school on fire by now."

"Our classmates probably wouldn't have any problems with that. Then they'd all get out of school for awhile."

"I heard from Penelope yesterday," Oliver said growing serious. "She asked how you were doing. What do you want me to tell her?"

"Just tell her I'm doing okay," Percy replied.

"And are you?"

"You were talking to Bill weren't you?"Percy said with a sigh.

"Now don't go getting mad at him," Oliver said. "He's just worried about you. We all are."

"How am I ever going to catch up with the schoolwork."

"You'll manage it. You know the professors are going to give you plenty of time to catch up when you get back."

"If I get back," Percy said softly.

Oliver reached out and took his friend's hand in his own.

"Quit it," Oliver said sternly. "You're one of the strongest people I know. You've never let obstacles get in your way before, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you now."

"I don't know if I can do this alone."

"You're not alone. You've got plenty of people who care about you. That are going to be there for you every step of the way."

Percy nodded.

There was a knock at the door and then the door opened slowly. Jordan Black walked into the room.

"Ah, I see our patient is awake," Jordan said walking to the bed on the opposite side of the bed as Oliver was sitting. He took in the readings on the monitors and did a quick assessment of Percy, taking the oxygen off of him momentarily to check his pulse ox levels without the oxygen.

"So when do I get out of here?" Percy asked.

Jordan Black smiled.

"Some healers take that question as an insult but I've always found it a good sign when my patients start wanting out of here," he said looking down at him. "However, I think you'll be with us for a little while yet," Jordan informed him. "I'll be back to check on you later. I need to check on my other patients," he told him walking out of the room.

"How about you start reading that book at loud. If nothing else it will probably put me back to sleep," Percy said indicating the potions book.

"I'm not sure you should be worrying about schoolwork right now," Oliver said hesitantly. He didn't want his friend to over tax himself.

"Please," Percy said. "I need something to take my mind off of being sick."

"Okay," Oliver said with a sigh. He picked up the potions book and found the chapter they had started after their last test. If nothing else, maybe reading through the material again would help him understand it better.

Arthur and Molly walked down the streets of London, hand in hand, walking toward St. Mungo's after having breakfast at one of the local restaurants. Arthur knew it had been the first decent meal he had since hearing that Percy was sick, and he was pretty sure it was Molly's too. Bill, William and Charlie had headed back to the hotel with the younger kids. Arthur had told them to get some of their school work done before coming over to the hospital.

"Bill was hiding something from us," Molly commented as they crossed over to the other side of the street. They had almost reached St. Mungo's.

"What makes you say that?" Arthur asked although he had gotten the same feeling himself from his eldest son who had joined them at the restaurant after being relieved by Oliver this morning. He hadn't offered much information when Molly had asked how Percy was doing. Just said that the fever hadn't come back and that Percy had been awaked for a little while.

"Just a feeling I have and the fact that he was quiet during breakfast."

"Perhaps he was just tired," Arthur suggested trying to ease her worry. If Bill was hiding something, it was something that he thought would worry his mother. Given Molly's current state, Arthur figured it was probably for the best. Between barely sleeping and eating, he was surprised his wife hadn't gotten sick herself.

"Maybe," Molly said slowly clearly not at all convinced.

They had reached the hidden hospital by now and soon was walking through the window and into the reception area of the hospital. Barely taking in those in the waiting area and in line to see the welcoming witch, Arthur and Molly took the familiar route to their son's room.

Halfway there, they met up with healer Jordan Black in the corridors.

"Ah, Mr and Mrs. Weasley could I talk to you a few moments please."

"Did something happen?" Molly asked immediately growing alarmed. She knew she should have came over as soon as she woke up this morning. Instead she had let Arthur take her out to breakfast like nothing was wrong.

"Nothing happened," Jordan told her reassuringly. "Percy's holding his own," he continued leading them into an empty room. "Although that in itself could be a problem," Jordan told them as he shut the door behind them. "His temp is normal and he's been awake most of the morning but there hasn't been much improvement other than that. He's breathing is still labored and if the oxygen is removed the level of oxygen in his blood drops dramatically."

"Is there anything we can do?"

Jordan shook his head.

"He's still on the iv antibiotics to help fight the bacterial infection still present in his lungs. However, its possible that the infection has done permanent damage to the lungs. It's a possible that Percy could be dependent on oxygen for the rest of his life. I wanted you to be aware of that. I'll continue to monitor him regularly. Hopefully, as the infection clears up his lung function will improve. We'll have to wait and see."

Arthur nodded as he slipped his arm around his wife's shoulders and pulled her close.

"Thank-you for letting us know."

"If you need anything, let one of the staff know and should you have any questions feel free to ask."

"We will," Arthur told him.

As Jordan left the room, Molly turned to face Arthur.

"What if . . ." she started to say, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Now Molly you heard the healer, its only a possibility."

"But what if he doesn't get better? What if he does need oxygen for the rest of his life? What kind of life would he have?"

"Molly don't worry about that right now. He's alive and he's getting better. That's what's important. And if he doesn't make a full recovery then we help him make the necessary adjustments."

Molly nodded, wiping tears away. She knew her husband was right. As long as she could hold her son in her arms, that was what was important. They could find a way to deal with any other obstacles that may still be in their way.

"You going to be okay?" Arthur asked looking down at his wife as she dried her eyes. "You don't need Percy to see you crying. We need to be strong for him right now."

Molly nodded. She knew her husband was right. Her son needed to know he could lean on her right now. Tears would only make him worry and impede his recovery.

"I'll be fine," she told him wiping away the last of the tears. "I want to go be with him."

"Then let's go," Arthur told her, draping an arm around her shoulders again and leading her out of the room.

They continued down the corridor to Percy's room. Oliver stood up as they walked in.

"He just fell back asleep," Oliver told them as Mrs. Weasley came over to the bed. She sat down in one of the empty chairs. "The healer came in not long after I got here."

"We've already talked to healer Black," Molly responded her voice wavering slightly.

Oliver sat back down in the chair he had just stood up from. He reached out and placed a hand on top of Molly's. She had been like a second mother to him. Had helped him through quite a few problems over the years.

Molly turned her hand over and grasped Oliver's hand. She looked over at him with a smile on her face, glad that her son had such a good and caring friend in his life.

Hey Ron,

How is everything going? If Professor McGonagall has heard anything from your

parents she isn't talking. We haven't heard anything about how Percy is doing since you

all left for St. Mungo's. I for one hope he is getting better as does Harry and the rest of

Gryffindor House. Things aren't the same around here without all of you here.

I hope you are finding time to keep up with your studies. You don't want to

get too far behind. I'm keeping good notes so if you don't understand something I

can help you when you come back. Hopefully, that will be soon as your missed around

here too. Its not the same without you Ron.

Things have been quiet here. They're still waiting for the Mandrakes to grow up

so that they can cure Mrs. Norris and Collin. Nothing else concerning the Chamber of

Secrets has come to light. Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Harry asked me to pass on a

message to Oliver to you. They want him to know that they've been practicing as hard

as they can since he's been gone and will be ready to resume practice when he gets back.

Write and let us know what's going on.

Hermione

Ron reread Hermione's letter a few times. He had been excited to get the letter. He was missing Harry, Hermione and his other friends back at Hogwarts. Although Ron wasn't about to admit it he was even missing his classes. Well most of them anyway. He wasn't missing Snape or potions whatsoever.

Sitting the letter aside, Ron looked back to his school work. His opened Transfiguration book laid their in front of him as did a rat that he was suppose to change into various dishes. He had finally managed the water goblet but the fork, spoon and plate were proving more difficult. The closest he had gotten to any success was a plate with a mouse face on it. Fred and George had laughed for quite awhile on that one. Then Fred had proceeded to quickly change the rat face plate to a spoon, water goblet, and a fork before returning it to a rat. Ron had given up at that point and put his transfiguration work away until now.

The twins had headed to the hospital, so Ron figured it was safe to attempt it again. Trouble was, the instructions on how to do it was making no more sense then if had yesterday.

With a sigh, Ron returned the rat to the cage McGonagall had sent it in. Sitting the transfiguration book on top of his stack of books and the cage on the floor, Ron got out his quill and a blank piece of parchment. Replying to Hermione seemed much more appealing right about now.

Hermione,

Percy is doing better. His fever broke early this morning and he has been awake

quite a few times today, although he gets tired quickly. I got a chance to talk to him after

lunch. I apologized for what I said to him before he got sick. He said he knew I hadn't

meant it and that he had never been mad at me. It was a big relief to hear that from him

although Charlie had tried to reassure me of the same thing.

He's still on oxygen though, and though they aren't telling us kids anything, I

know there is still something wrong. I can see the worry in all of their faces. I even tried

to get Oliver to tell me and it didn't work. He just told me not to worry. Don't worry.

How is that suppose to happen when I don't even know what's going on.

I've been working on the schoolwork. Is much more to do here other than that.

I'm missing all of you too. I just want Percy to get well again and all of us to be back at

Hogwarts, even if that means Percy being bossy again.

I'll pass along the Quidditch team's message to Oliver. I'm sure he'll be happy to

hear that they've been practicing as best they can with only about half of the team.

Hope to see you all soon,

Ron