Disclaimer: These characters and their world are as not mine
as they could possibly get.
Summary: Percy and Oliver are just getting used to their
relationship, just to have it disturbed by their previously made holiday plans.
But to Percy's frustration, there are some things neither of them can plan for.
Gift for BrigidMN
The wizarding world was very large. Wizarding
Britain alone
was, actually, enormous. Percy Weasley sometimes forgot this fact. Having spent
so much time at Hogwarts, attended by students from every family in the region,
he was used to knowing people from Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland
as well as England.
At Hogwarts, he had gotten to know his peers, and learn about their families,
and it all seemed so small and localized. At the Ministry of Magic, things
weren't much different. He was constantly in contact with wizards all over in
order to work on issues that would affect them all. So sometimes the fact that
there were so many wizards and witches in Britain,
or that there was so much of a distance between them all, really hit him.
"Percy!"
Percy blinked and quickly looked down around the mattress at Oliver. "There you
are. I thought I'd lost you again." Percy smiled apologetically. He had been
spacing out, lost in thought often lately. It was no reflection upon his
company; he simply had a lot of important things on his mind. "Your end,"
Oliver told him, gesturing down towards Percy's feet.
Percy
looked down to see that his hand had gone slack and the wand in it was pointing
down instead of up in the air. "Sorry!" apologized
Percy. "Wingardium leviosa!" he
said with a swish and flick. His end of the mattress raised in the air, just as
Oliver's side was. It lifted only a few feet off the air, which was just enough
for what they needed.
And what
they needed was to get the mattress up several more flights of stairs to
Percy's new flat. The mattress was not too heavy for just one person to lift,
but because of the size and need to maneuver it upwards the task was much more
easily accomplished by two people. Percy was quite grateful that Oliver had
offered to help.
Even though
they were in a relationship now, Percy had hesitated to ask Oliver to help him
move out of his room at The Burrow and into his first flat. But Oliver had
volunteered and been more than happy to put his Quidditch-toned body to use for
Percy's benefit. Whether it was using magic to levitate objects up the stairs
or moving objects around with his muscles flexed as the boxes were unpacked.
Oliver's muscles... and his chest when he lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat from his
forehead...
"Perce!" Percy jumped, realizing that he had allowed his
mind to wander off again. Accordingly he had dropped the mattress again,
leaving Oliver to support the whole thing so it would not slide back down the
stairs. Percy uttered the levitation spell again and kept his mind on the job
as they directed it all the way upstairs.
Blindly
feeling behind him as he got to the top of the stairs, he managed to keep the
mattress in the air and open the door to his flat. They guided the mattress
inside and towards the bed where the bottom mattress already rested on the bed frame.
Percy's face twitched with a brief lapse of concentration and the mattress
dropped, prematurely falling upon the other.
Oliver
laughed. "Let's just do it without magic. Just a little
push." As it was raining out, their hands, like the rest of them, were
wet. But they both squatted down and grabbed hold of the mattress well enough. Percy
nodded and together they lifted the mattress and slid it into place on top of
the other. Oliver sighed with relief and sat down on top. Percy sat beside him.
"Please tell me that's the last of it."
Percy
nodded. "That's it." Then he smiled charmingly and pecked Oliver on the cheek
with the softest of kisses. "Thank you so much for helping me."
"I still
don't know why you couldn't just transfigure something to be a bed. Or keep
using the couch for that matter." Percy had a fold-out couch he had been using
as a bed during the night.
"This is
much more comfortable," Percy said, running his hand over the mattress.
"Besides, if the transfiguration wore off in the middle of the night and I
would myself tangled in blankets lying on top of a
teacup or something. And I'd miss my old bed. I've had it for as long as I can
remember." The Weasleys may not have been allowed a
lot of extravagances as children, but everyone had his or her own bed and Percy
had been the first to get his own room. And now he had his own flat.
Olver shrugged, "Yeah, but don't you think it's a little... a
little..."
"Damp?"
Percy guessed. He felt likewise. Though he was quite glad
that they didn't have to keep going out into the heavy rain to move things now.
When Oliver did not agree right away, "Ah, low?" The
bed hardly stood more than three feet off the ground. But that gave the
impression of a tall ceiling. Percy took off his glasses and rubbed the end of
his shirt over the lenses to dry them off. But as his shirt was damp, it didn't
do much good. Oliver had not yet confirmed either word, so Percy tried again.
"Blue?"
Oliver
laughed, shaking his head. The mattress was, indeed, a striking shade of blue.
"No, I was going to say little, actually." It was only a twin sized bed. And
though it looked the right size in comparison with Percy's smallish apartment,
it was still just a twin sized bed.
Nodding,
"Yeah, well, I don't need much. It's just me here, after all." There was a sad
note to his voice that Oliver was quick to pick up on.
Oliver
gripped the edge of the mattress a bit harder than he normally might. "Maybe
you should get a cat or something?"
Percy
rolled his eyes. "That's just what I need: cat hair all over the place with my
allergies. Besides, Hermes probably wouldn't be too keen on having a cat
around." Both were terribly weak excuses. Percy took an allergy potion weekly
that kept his few, minor allergies in check. And cats purchased at wizarding pet shops were already trained not see owls as
prey. In fact, many owls and cats who lived in the same home became very close
friends. But Percy did not want a cat. He wanted something else. Someone else.
"Perce?"
"Sorry the
bed's so little," Percy said, snapping back again with another apologetic and
slightly sheepish smile. He hoped his thoughts hadn't betrayed him.
"I reckon I
can handle it for one night," Oliver said with a shrug.
Percy nodded
and looked down at his lap. If it meant Oliver would stay, he would have gone
right back out into the pouring rain to buy a larger bed. But the reason Oliver
was leaving was much more important than a bed. It was the holidays in just a
few days. Oliver would be going home to Scotland
to be with his family and Percy would be staying in London
to be near his family. Celebrations and arrangements had been made months in
advance, before they had even met up with each other again after Hogwarts. Plans
couldn't be changed now, much as either of them might like that.
This time
it was not Oliver but a sneeze that shook Percy from his thoughts. "hekshihhh!"
Oliver
cleared his throat. "We should get out of these wet clothes. Wouldn't want to
catch cold, aye?"
Percy
agreed and got up. He took some clothes out of a drawer to change into just as
Oliver squatted on the floor, fishing some out of his duffle bag. "I'm in the
mood for a hot shower," Percy called out, trying to sound casual. "Want to join
me?" He looked over his shoulder, looking curious.
"Love to,"
Oliver said, grinning. He sprang up, change of clothes in hand, and intercepted
Percy with a strong, playful embrace as they made their way to the bathroom.
Percy
shivered a little more than usual as he stripped out of his rain-soaked
clothes. But as he noticed Oliver was shivering a little as well in the
somewhat chilly bathroom, he thought nothing of it. He was happy when the
sensation of bare feet against cold tile was overwhelmed by soft, hot water
rushing against his chest and a warm body wrapping itself around him from
behind. Percy closed his eyes in order to savor the moment. He was going to
sorely miss moments like this while Oliver was away.
It wasn't
as thought Oliver didn't leave all the time. His Quidditch team was based in Puddlemere, after all. And he was constantly traveling with
it to away games. But this time he was going for two weeks straight. Two weeks
during a time of love and celebration that Percy wanted to spend with everyone
he cared about, including his new boyfriend.
"hehhShhhh! hahhhShuhh!"
Oliver
kissed the back of Percy's head. "Feeling a little sneezy?"
"I'm all
right. Probably just a little chilly still," Percy said, sniffling and wiping
his nose with the back of his wet hand. He instinctively turned the temperature
knob higher towards 'hot' and Oliver did not object.
But as soon
as it had started, the shower ended. Oliver gave him a strong hug from behind
then shivered and pulled away to get a towel. Percy stayed in the shower stall
a little longer, breathing in the steam deeply and looking up with slightly
blurry vision at the shower head. Water was dripping out of it, still, through
some of the little holes. He cocked his head, watching more closely to see if
there was a pattern to the water droplets.
"Perce?" Oliver chuckled as he pulled on plaid flannel
pants. "You coming out or do I have to get back in there and drag you out?" Percy
did not answer. He continued to stare at the dripping water. Oliver narrowed
his eyes in concern. "Percy? You all right?" He
started back for the shower stall just as he saw Percy sway, and he reached the
man just as Percy fainted.
"Oliver?"
Percy called out when he regained consciousness to find himself dressed and stretched
out on the couch beneath blankets.
Oliver sat
down on the edge of the couch with a cold washcloth for Percy's forehead and a
box of tissues for the large box in front of the couch which served as a
makeshift coffee table. "You're burning up, Percy," he said softly. Then, when
Percy didn't understand, he said, "A fever. You're running a fever."
"Really?" Percy asked, reaching up to feel his forehead
around the washcloth. It was true. Even he could tell he felt hot. It was
probably too far along by now to try a temperature reduction spell. And if he
had a fever already, it was also too late for anything like the pepper-up
potion. And, yet, he didn't feel quite so bad as it
seemed. "But I don't feel sick." He started to sit up, but his head swam and
throbbed, and he quickly lay back down again. "I take that back," he groaned
and coughed. "What's wrong with me?"
"I'm sure
it's just a cold," Oliver said comfortingly. "All this moving and stress... you
probably just wore yourself out and caught something and with that cold rain
all afternoon and evening... I'm sure it's just a minor cold. Nothing
to worry about, okay?"
Percy
nodded, though he wasn't so sure about not worrying. In his estimation, passing
out in the shower stall and waking up with a fever was a perfectly good reason
to worry. Not to mention that the holidays were coming up. He didn't want to
spend them sick. Of course, he might not have much of a choice about that. It
was not as though he could just tell it to go away until after the holidays.
"Olly?" Percy said,
his voice slightly higher than normal. "I think I need one of those tissues now."
"Sure."
Oliver pulled one out of the box and handed it over just in time for Percy to
sneeze again.
"hahhKShhhh! ehhhhShihhh!
hehhShhhihhh!" Percy
sneezed into the tissue, then blew his nose into it. "Excuse
me. Ughhh," Percy sighed. "This is so..." Annoying. Frustrating. "Sudden. Sniff!"
"You really
didn't know you were coming down sick?" Oliver asked, taking the used tissue
from him and handing him a fresh one, just in case. "I mean, you weren't hiding
it from me? You actually weren't getting sick all day?"
Percy shook
his head. "I'd no idea. I mean, I was a little tired and a little cold. And
maybe my throat hurt a little bit earlier. But I just figured it was from all
the moving and running in and out of the rain. I didn't think I... I... ehhhShuhhh! ehhhKShhhh!"
He rolled onto his side and blew his nose again. "Excuse me," he whispered,
closing his eyes as the washcloth began slipping down his forehead.
Oliver
reached up and put it back into place. "It's all right, Perce," he began.
But Percy
shook his head. "It's not all right. It's a shite way
to spend our last night together. All day I make you move my things up eight
flights of stairs and now I can't event thank you or say goodbye properly."
"Now that's
not true," Oliver said, frowning. "First, you didn't make me do anything. I enjoyed helping you. I would have done it
even if we weren't dating. And second, there's no need to give me a long
goodbye or anything. We'll be in touch while I'm gone for the holidays. Hermes
knows where I'll be, and your parents and mine both have fireplaces." He raised
his hand, hesitated, then cupped it over Percy's
cheek. He stroked his thumb gently against the side of Percy's face. "Third, I
didn't expect anything from you just because I helped you move or because I'm
going. I love the sex, Perce, but I never expect it. And I'm not disappointed
that there won't be any tonight. I'm just disappointed that you're not feeling
well."
Percy was
biting his bottom lip throughout Oliver's explanation, trying to will his tears
back. One escaped out of the corner of his eye, but Oliver had not seen it. And
his sniffling could easily be attributed to his cold rather than to the fact
that what Oliver had said had moved him greatly. "Oh, Oliver," he sighed
weakly, his voice cracking.
"Hey,"
Oliver said, staring Percy down. He seemed to understand it wasn't just from
the head cold. "No need to get all..."
Percy
nodded. "I know." He sniffed again. "I know." He tried to smile convincingly,
but he'd never felt more like crying in his life. Crying and begging Oliver to
stay. Oliver was so nice, so sweet. Oliver knew just what to say and knew just
how to take care of him. If Percy had to get sick during the holidays, he
wanted more than anything for Oliver to stay with him. Clearing
his throat and keeping his smile in place, "How about a little dinner?"
"You're
hungry?" Percy nodded and Oliver looked rather relieved. "Well, that's a good
sign. Sure. I'll whip something hot up right now for us."
Two hot somethings later, Oliver was making the bed up as per
Percy's request. Percy wanted to be sick in his own bed. But more importantly,
he just wanted to be in bed. "hehhhChhhh! hehhhChuhhh!
Sniff! Olly?"
Oliver
tucked the top sheet in at the bottom of the bed and pulled it up to the top of
the bed. Then he headed over to Percy on the couch. "Are you okay?" he asked
concernedly. "Need more tissues? A drink? A hug?"
Percy couldn't
help but smile at the last one. "All of the... hahh... above?" Percy said, holding a hand over his nose. Oliver sat down
sideways on the couch, one leg bent beneath him. He put an arm around Percy and
pulled a few tissues out from the tissue box. He handed them to Percy. "hehhhKShhhh! ehhhShuhhhh!"
He gave his nose a quick blow and exchanged the used tissue for a glass of
water. When Percy had finished drinking, Oliver squeezed him reassuringly then
cuddled him close. Percy rubbed his face into Oliver's chest, sniffling. "Thank
you," he whispered, his voice muffled into Oliver's shirt. "Merlin," he sighed
deeply. "I'm going to miss this when you're gone." He snuggled closer into
Oliver's chest. "Don't know how I'll get through this without you."
Oliver
chuckled. "It's not as though you've never had a cold before." He ran his hand
absentmindedly through Percy's soft, red hair. "Besides, I'm not doing much. Just handing you tissues. You don't need me for that."
"No," Percy
agreed. "But I really like you for it." He sniffled and rubbed at his nose. "It's
not so bad feeling rotten with you here to hold me." After hearing those words
flowing from his mouth, he flushed from cheeks to ears. "Sorry," he whispered. "Must
be the fever talking."
Oliver
chuckled lightly again, but the comment stirred something in him. "Hey..." he
said softly, leadingly. "What do you think about coming with me to Scotland
for the holidays this year?" Percy's head snapped upwards at once, looking
stunned by the offer. "I was just thinking... you wanted me to look after you and
I want to do so. So I thought, well, maybe you could come with me." Percy still
said nothing; he just looked at Oliver oddly. "No, think about it. You never
get enough time away to visit with me properly up in Scotland.
You can stay at my flat and we'll decorate it for the holidays together. You
can meet my family and go through our traditions with us. We can stay up late
on Christmas Eve and keep the fire burning together. You'd love my
grandmother's bannock cakes. I can show you how to dance at the Hogmanay ceilidh. And we can go firstfooting together, though I suppose I would have to go
in first since I've dark hair and you red." He took a deep breath and slowly
let it out. "What do you say, Perce?"
It sounded
good. It sounded fun. It sounded absolutely delightful and would have been
perfect... if it wasn't for the fact that he'd promised his parents he would
spend Christmas with them. Bill and Charlie were coming back home and even
though they'd visited briefly during the summer, Percy
could never see enough of his older brothers. And now with the time off from
work he would really get to enjoy his time with his family. While he had been
home, he'd shut himself up in his room to work. But now that he had his own
flat, he missed The Burrow and everything about it. His mother's cooking and
the way the scent of it filled the house. The decorations
that seemed to multiply every year. The way they'd all sit around in
their new, matching sweaters and drink eggnog after opening presents. "Oliver..."
he started weakly, not quite sure how to go about saying it.
But Oliver
shook his head. "Right. I understand. We made promises
to our families. I just thought..." He shook his head again. "No
matter. Forget I said anything." He pushed Percy's hair from his face
and kissed him tenderly on the forehead. "We'll just enjoy being with each
other one last night then."
Percy
smiled and nodded. "If you can bear sleeping in that little
bed with me, that is."
Chuckling again, "With you beside me, I think I can put up with it.
Come on. Get into bed and I'll make it around you. That way you're all snug and
warm and comfy. Would you like that?" Percy nodded quickly and gave a bit of a
surprised yelp when Oliver scooped Percy up in his arms. "One
of the advantages of having a strong boyfriend, aye?" Oliver joked as he
carried Percy over to the bed and set him down on it.
He pulled
the sheet up over Percy, then stacked pillows with
fresh pillowcases behind the man. He layered the blankets on top, tucking a few
in at the bottom of the bed and just draping the larger, thicker ones over
everything. Then he stood back, hands on his hips, and admired his work. "Whoops,
almost forgot!" He brought the water and tissue box over. Then he looked Percy
and the bed over again. "There. Now, all set?"
Percy
shrugged and stared down at the tissue box on his lap.
"Well what
else could you need?" Oliver asked. But as he asked, his words slowed and a
smile grew on his face. "Oh." With a wave of his wand, he turned off the lights
in the one-room apartment. Then he tucked his wand under a pillow. He pulled
back the blankets just long enough to climb beneath and stretch out on his side
against Percy's side. He breathed warmly onto Percy's cheek, then
followed that with a gentle kiss. "Now?"
"Now is
great," Percy whispered, closing his eyes. He had half a mind to grab hold of
Oliver and not let go. He did not want the man to leave, especially not since
he was so warm and comfortable in bed with him. "Now is... almost perfect," he
said, glad that Oliver couldn't see him blushing now. Oliver slid an arm
beneath Percy's shoulders and hugged tightly. So warm and secure now, Percy was
ready to revise his previous statement to eliminate the 'almost'.
But the need to sneeze came over him, and he was rather glad for
the 'almost'. He adored snuggling in bed with Oliver, but with a stuffy
nose and when all they could do was snuggle... things
weren't exactly what he would call perfect. Oliver anticipated the sneeze and
got a tissue for him. Even before their eyes had been properly accustomed to
the darkness in the room, Oliver had been able to locate Percy's hand and give
him the tissue. As the sneezes turned out to be especially wet, Percy was quite
glad for it. "heh-hehhSHHHHH!
ehhhShihhhh! Ehhhh-ehhh-HIHSchhhhhh! IhShhhh!" Oliver handed over a few more and Percy blew his
nose. "Excuse... me," Percy apologized, yawning rather powerfully in-between
words.
"Sleepy?"
Oliver asked, stroking the back of two fingers against Percy's cheek. Percy
nodded and looked back at Oliver, who wore an expression of sadness. "Oh," he
said softly. "Well, you should get some sleep, then."
"I can make
myself stay awake a little longer," Percy offered. They had only a matter of
hours now before it Oliver had to leave. And clearly Oliver wanted to be sure
it was time well spent.
"Absolutely
not," said Oliver, shaking his head. "But I am
leaving rather early to catch my flight. So if I must leave before you wake up
in the morning, I wanted to be sure to wish you a Happy Christmas in person
before I left. I've left your present on the top shelf of your closet but I'll
probably end up sending something more from Scotland."
He kissed Percy's cheek again. "More importantly, you take care of yourself. I
want you as good as new when I return. All right?"
Percy nodded.
"All right," he lied. He was notoriously bad at taking care of himself. He
either spent days in bed forgetting to eat properly, or he overworked himself
and ended passing out. But for Oliver, he would make an effort towards a happy
medium. "But wake me up when you have to leave. I want to say goodbye to you."
"I ken, but
sleep's the best thing for you now. And I want you to get well as soon as
possible. Which means a good, long, restful sleep."
Percy
agreed with a nod. Oliver made a lot of sense. Or, at least,
seemed to make sense to a tired, feverish Percy. "Have a safe trip
then," Percy told him, sounding sad. "Happy Christmas and
sweet dreams." He turned and kissed Oliver's cheek very lightly, hoping
that wouldn't be enough to give Oliver his cold. Oliver gently slid Percy's
glasses from his face and set them on the headboard. Then Percy closed his eyes
and fell asleep, snuggled close to Oliver so that neither would fall off the
little bed.
It was
already bright when Percy woke the next morning. He found Oliver still pressed
against him, and he looked over to the clock. It was too blurry to read, so he
reached up for his glasses. After putting them on, he tried again. Immediately
his eyes grew wide and he grabbed Oliver's shoulder, shaking it. "Ol... it's... hahhh..." He turned
his head away. "ahhhhShuhhh! ehhhShehhh! hehhhShuhhhh!" Oliver woke sleepily and blinked
up at Percy. "It's nearly ten," Percy explained, running two fingers under his
nose. "You've missed your flight!"
Oliver
yawned, covering it by burying his face into Percy's shoulder for a moment.
Then he nodded. "I'm aware, Perce. I woke up in time. I was halfway out the
door, too. But then you started coughing in your sleep and wouldn't stop until
I sat you up a little." He touched Percy's forehead to see what his temperature
was. "So I got to thinking and decided that you needed me to stay. And, more
importantly, I wouldn't be able to go if it meant leaving you here alone."
"But..."
Percy shook his head.
"I can always
go visit my family when you get better. In the meantime, I'm sure they'll
understand when I explain you're not feeling well."
Percy
raised his eyebrows. "They know about us? About you?"
Oliver shrugged.
"Well they will now. I suspect my parents probably always knew. Yours?"
Percy
shrugged back. "Same. Nonetheless, it's a bad time to explain to them the
reason I'm bringing you over or staying here with you is because I'm a poof and
want to spend time with my boyfriend."
Oliver
shook his head. "It's a perfect time. Your parents wouldn't get angry with you
on Christmas. That's the time to be forgiving and loving."
"Mom would
probably stop everything to go knit you a sweater," Percy agreed. Oliver
chuckled.
"Whatever
we end up doing, Perce," Oliver told him, pulling some more tissues from the
box and handing it over as Percy's face fell with the need to sneeze again. "Whether we're together or not. Whether
we're in London or in Scotland. I want you to be looked after and I want you to know I
care about you."
Oliver
handed over the tissues and Percy buried his face into them. "EHHKShhhhh! ehhhSchhhh! hehhhShuhhh! ehhhShihhh! Hehhh... hehhIHShhh!" After the small fit, he blew his nose and then lifted
his head to give Oliver an encouraging, appreciative smile.
"I know you
don't like unplanned things. But can you handle this?" Oliver asked, propping
himself up on an elbow to study Percy. "My sticking around a
little longer?"
Percy
grinned. "Absolutely. But if you're sticking around,
do you want to move back over to the pull-out? Given that
this bed is a little... little?"
Oliver
chuckled and shook his head. "It's cozy. What do we need more room for? I'm
just going to cuddle you close anyway when I take care of you." In example, he
hugged Percy to him and kissed his temple. "I like your bed." He took one hand
off Percy for a moment to gesture at the rest of the flat, empty boxes
scattered everywhere. "Besides, now I can help you finish your unpacking."
With a
happy sigh, Percy turned and kissed Oliver's forehead. Then he closed his eyes
and snuggled into Oliver. The wizarding world was
large, extensive. But right now, what mattered most to him couldn't have been
closer.