Expectations of Approval

Chapter Twenty-Four: Searching for Percy

Oliver thinks idly that getting into the research center would be easy enough if a person was allowed to use magic. Then again if you are entering the research center, knowing the research being conducted, you wouldn't be stupid enough to try to break in. Everything was locked up using muggle gadgets and gismos. To Oliver's surprise Anne was having no trouble adjusting at all to the situation. When they had come in they were given special guest passes, those given only to those visiting medial staff.

Anne explains the difference between the passes and their importance. "It's a muggle locking machine. They use these cards to open the door, you just flash the card in front of that white box with the red light and if you have the right card it lets you in. The healers can go into more places than we can but we can go into the research hall way so we can look for the healer we are visiting but we can't go into the research rooms just the lounge and some offices. Normal visitors can only go into patient wards and then only the one with harmless patients and they are very limited, you can only open the door to the person you said you were visiting."

"How do you know all this?" Asks Fred.

"This isn't the first time I visit" Anne tells them, then continues with her explanation. "It doesn't really matter though, you know usually people just ask for the healer at the front desk but I didn't want to do that. Using this pass we can visit the harmless patients too. We can open all the doors in that ward. You see it's a glitch they can't fix, I'm not sure they have noticed because only one healer is allowed to be visited like this a day, and very few people have the right connections. I've spent a lot of time looking around"

"Where are we now?" Asks Oliver looking around the blank, empty hallway.

"This is the research hallway, well the main one." Anne shrugs. "If we are lucky we won't even need to go look for him, he'll just show up here needed to move from room to room."

Oliver feels his heart beat pick up. Any moment now he'll see Percy, he coule see him in a matter of seconds. It's almost been a year since his seen him. 'Please don't act like an idiot Wood, that isn't the impression you want to make after not seeing him for so long'

Anne notices Oliver's reaction an rolles her eyes as Oliver takes a deep breath. Just then a healer passes by them. Anne push Fred forward "Ask her if she knows were Percy is"

"Like they'll know him, and why me?"

Anne lifts a menacing fits, "Just do it" She then turns to Oliver.

Oliver looks at Anne suspiciously.

"Everyone knows who Percy is, because Percy is one of the research center's most dedicated, kind and prodigy. A sort of genius super star. We'll find him soon, so you better not back out Oliver. Tell him, get to getter and live happily ever after, I don't want to end up with a medical male Mary Sue "

Oliver tilts his head, and continues to eye her suspiciously. "You already know were he is"

"Yes"

From just down the hall they could hear Fred ask the random blond Healer were they could find Percy.

"Oh, Percy?" The healer looks down at her watch.

Fred takes this a sign that she doesn't know. "I'm sorry to-"

The healer shakes her head and looks up at him. "It's a little after 12, so he should be visiting his brother in room 2445, if he is not there then check Madam Pomfrey's Office, in the 3rd floor"

Fred stares at healer. "How- are you Percy's friend?"

"Huh? No . . .why-" The Healer looks at Fred closely. "Oh, you're a family member right? The red hair, freckles and such . . . you look a lot like him. But I don't really know him, Just that everyone knows about him. It's just that during emergencies it's better to know were to find him. Like right now, it's his lunch break."

"Thank you!" Yells Anne, "Come one Fred let's go find your brother"

--

"You feeling uneasy Percy?" Asks Bill from his "bathtub bed". He isn't looking at Percy but at his blue scaly fish tale. Underneath the murky green water, that only yesterday had been crystal clear. From his spot on the far side of the room Percy is eating his sandwich.

"I guess you could say that, woke up with a bad feeling about today" Percy says as he notices a bit of spilt water around Bill's bathtub of bed. "I'll have to call that in and have it cleaned"

Bill sighed. "I'm trying not to splash any water, but it's hard to get comfortable in a bathtub after being trapped in one more months. And it's eerie? The way it changes colors so quickly after I touch it. . . . and did you notice that my tail is getting scalier and my hair longer"

Percy nods and continues to eat as his older brother examines himself in a mirror.

"Have you heard from home?"

"Mom and Dad wrote about a week ago, and I got a letter from Ginny the other day but I haven't had the chance to read it. It looked pretty long . . ." Percy tells Bill as he picks up a phone and marks the front desk. It rings for a moment, and then the receptionist picks up.

"This is Healer Percy-"

In the moment the doors to the Bill's room pings and opens. Anne smiles at Percy and Bill. "Hey Bill, Hello Percy, I brought a surprise" Anne steps out of the way to let Oliver and Fred into the room.

Percy closes his mouth with a snap.

"Hello? Percy?"

"Right, I'm sorry" Percy say and turns away to talk on the phone. "Send someone to 2445, to clean up a spill"

He can hear Bill chuckle from across the room.