Chapter Text
"I'm ok. I'm fine."
Watching the person you love saying that they are fine while you know they are not, is the cruellest thing you wish you didn't hear from them.
"How come you are fine? You are on the edge, my dear."
Oliver whispers.
In front of him is a terrified Percy.
The war just ended, no one will be fine and complete. Everything has been ripped into pieces by the war: the buildings, the bodies, the memories and the hopes. No one is fine, no one. Even though the sun shines through the dark cloud and pours on them, no one ever actually felt warm. With the body piles lying around the place, it almost drives Percy insane.
Somehow, It feels like a deja vu.
Percy feels like he has seen these scenes before, he swears. He looks down at his hands which are covered in blood, not him but Fred’s. Flashbacks hit him like a train wreck, he finally recalled it.
The reason he feels familiar is that he has seen it from the Ministry, the Ministry that Voldermort took over. Turns out they were a prophecy to him, to warn the idiocy of him. How come he never learn the lessons from it? The day he became one of the slaughter just to avoid getting killed by the death eaters, he should have known it.
"Should I be ok? Should I be fine? I shouldn’t be breathing while Freddie is lying over there! He shouldn’t be there! I should be the one lying over there, I should be the one lying over there……"
Percy's voice is trembling.
He sounds so lost and hopeless. He tries so much to hide his fear but clearly, he didn't do it very well. He didn’t fear losing his life.
He will give up his life without any hesitation if someone told him there’s a way he can bring back Freddie from the underworld. The only thing he is afraid of is facing his family. How should he tell his family that he was the one watching Freddie dies in front of him, and he fails to protect his brother?
Oliver was just a few steps from him, he could have just run to him, held his hand and find some console from him.
But he couldn't move, even a tiny step.
His legs are numb, his body is cold, his hands are sore and his chest is in unbearable pain. Every inch of the muscles on his body is yelling for pain. He is broking into pieces and he can’t stop himself.
"Percy....."
Oliver wishes he can immediately run towards Percy.
But there are piles of bodies between them. Death surrounded everyone, even the survivors could not escape from it too.
It has a different name, we call it 'survivor guilt'. It is worse than death, a terrible sibling that death has.
One step…
Two steps…
Four steps…
Five steps.
It took five steps for Oliver to walk to Percy, but he feels like it took him forever to walk to him.
"Oliver..."
"I'm here."
"Oliver..."
"I'm here."
As soon as Oliver kneels beside Percy, he immediately holds his hands. They are so small and skinny, compared to his.
“How should I tell mom, especially Georgie that I lost Freddie? They were right, I shouldn’t come back, I only make things worse than before. He should have escaped from the explosion but I distracted him. He… he was so young, Ollie, he was so young… My Freddie… he’s… gone.”
Percy buries his face into Oliver’s arms. They are so warm, like the blanket of his that Molly knitted for him. But no matter how hard he tries to warm himself, still feels like surrounded by the Winter. Maybe, he was dead too, with Fred in that explosion. Part of him has died when his beloved brother’s dead body falls onto him.
“No no no, don’t say that, Perce.”
Oliver gently shushes the boy. He puts his hand on Percy’s head, patting it like how his ma usually pats him when he had nightmares. He hopes this will comfort Percy, although he knows this action doesn’t help too much. This probably will sound very selfish and cold blood, but Oliver was gladful when he found out Percy was still safe and sound.
“Why are you still standing beside me? Ollie. I’m not worthy, just a dumb, arrogant and ignorant man. You should have chosen someone wiser than me, probably Harry.”
“Yes, you should have chosen Harry. He was right and I was wrong, terribly wrong and coward.”
As soon as Percy starts coughing, the sudden pain in his chest sends him to the ground. The pain didn’t stop his murmurs, even though his lungs feel on fire. Slowly, his visions are blurry and he can barely move.
This caught Oliver off guard.
He doesn’t know what’s going on with Percy, he seems fine, with no big scars and bleeding wounds on his body. But then again, everything seemed wrong. His clothes were ripped and bloody, and Oliver feels something wet on his hands. Not tears, not sweat but liquid with a familiar sweet rusty smell.
Blood, the smell of blood. There are plenty of them coming out of Percy's mouth and eyes.
A scream echoes through the yard.
Percy is clearly in pain, his body twitches like a bunch of untied rope. His hands keep covering his chest, which gives Oliver a hint to the guess. Something is hurting Percy, maybe...... it was a curse. Oliver recalls back the conversation he and Percy had about a few minutes ago.
What did he say? Oh come on, think! Think!
You piece of dumbshit, Oliver. Your friend is dying in front of you, you got to save him!
The voices screaming inside Oliver’s head make his stomach churn.
He's the only thing now you can save before everything is late. If not, he will never know what's going on inside of your head. The reason for you to join this battle is not only for Hogwarts, right? Percy is also one of the reasons, isn't it?
His mind keeps screaming at him to act faster, but he needs to calm down before reaching him, to make sure nothing else happens, to save him.
"....He should have escaped from the explosion, but I distracted him."
That's it! The explosion!
The explosion might be the reason why Percy is in so much hurt.
With the thoughts, Oliver forceful but also gently remove Percy's hands from his chest. He's right, there's blood slowly soaking through his shirt.
"Hey, hey! Percy, stay with me. Don't you ever dare to close your eyes, open them! Fuck it...."
His voice breaks when he sees Percy trying to blink.
Oliver wants to cry, to scream, the more he puts pressure on his chest to stop the blood from coming out, the more they bleed. He needs to find Hermoine or Madam Pomfrey, they shall know which type of curse Percy has been hitting on, and they shall pull him away from joining the death.
"Please don't die. Please don't die! You're the last thing I have left..."
He feels a warm hand holding his arm. Percy is looking at him with such an expression, that Oliver doesn't know what it means. The panic slowly crawls onto his feet and starts consuming his sanity. He has seen too many dead in one day, but Percy's shouldn't be one of them.
"Ollie....."
Percy mumbles under his breath, Oliver tries to hear what he said, he shakes his shoulder to get him to speak but it's useless. The blood has filled up his throat and lungs, just like a drowning person, Percy is slowly suffocated by his blood.
Does he feel scared? Probably yes.
Facing death on your own is not an easy thing, especially when someone is still by your side, trying to help you escape from it. Sounds and colour started to fade away from Percy's eyes.
His limbs are cold and numb, is this how Freddie feels?
Percy wonders.
"No... no, come on, please. Wake up!"
"What's going on here?! Oliver! "
Hermoine runs towards them.
Finally, a saviour that Oliver has been searching for.
She glides toward them and kneels beside Percy. The amount of blood coming out from Percy's chest scared the shit out of her. Although she tries to be calm and determined, her hands betray her.
There is no way Weasleys will lose another child today, not on her watch. Granger, you must be calm, she told herself.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know, I think he might be hit with a curse. Maybe an explosion curse? He was with...'
"He was with who?"
"He was with Fred."
Hermoine chokes on Oliver's answer. She changes a glance with Oliver, without any communication he understands her meaning. The Weasleys have found out about Fred's death.
"No, maybe it's not the curse. If he was hit by an explosion curse, he should be dead now. Take off his clothes, I need a better look."
Oliver is glad that he was found by Hermoine, or else he definitely will have a meltdown. He wipes the tears from his eyes and starts ripping off Percy's clothes. As soon as his bare chest was exposed to the air, both of them gasp a little.
Hermoine was right.
It was not a curse, it was something else worse than a curse. A piece of gravel stuck on Percy's chest. The gravel is as sharp as the knife, as thin as the ice, it's hard to get it out from the chest. It might contain some very tiny curse power on it, that’s why Percy couldn’t stop bleeding and was in so much pain.
The wound is so deep that if Oliver tried harder, he could cut Percy's heart right there. It looks almost impossible, but he has done impossible things before.
"What are you going to do?"
"To save him! Obviously!"
With an Accio, a dagger flies to them from nowhere. Who the hell would bring a dagger to a curse fight? Probably those murderers, those cold-blood death eaters. They love to play dirty, nothing surprises.
Oliver slowly starts cutting at Percy's skin, trying to reach the stone while Hermoine assistances him. She looks at Oliver with an unbelievable look. Seems like the war between them and Voldemort changes a person a lot. She doesn't know whether it's a good thing or not. To fully grow up in such situations, you need a huge amount of traumatising experience. The scar on her upper arm is the best example.
"Come on Percy, don't you dare to leave me behind... wake up..."
Oliver murmurs while concentrating to get the gravel out from Percy's chest. They were almost there, the wound is wide enough for them to take out the gravel but Oliver's hand is too big to handle that frangible gravel.
"Let me help you."
Hermoine let go of Percy's arms and slowly stuck her fingers into his chest. It's incredible to feel the warmth of Percy's blood, she can feel his heart thumping weakly. This is her first time sticking her fingers into someone's chest.
Everything feels so..... awkward and incredible.
Blood splashes on her face as soon as she pulls out the gravel successfully from Percy's chest. Her eyes immediately fill with tears when she sees the large hole where the stone used to be. Oliver looks like crying too, but then again, he doesn't show it. He breathes a sigh of relief as he saw Hermoinen successfully remove the gravel from Percy's chest.
"Thank Merlin," Hermoine whispers while staring into the hole she made.
It wasn't the first time Oliver has performed a healing spell, but it was the first time he performs it on someone he loves who is nearly dying in front of him.
"You love him, don't you?"
"What are you talking about?"
Oliver looks at Hermoine as he puts down his wand on the ground. His voice is a bit shaken by Hermoine's words. Does he look obvious? He thought that he hide it very well.
"Eyes won't lie, Oliver. I always know."
Hermoine gently taps on Oliver's shoulder when she stands up.
Back in the day, she used to question the relationship between Percy and Oliver. It is weird for Oliver to be Percy's one and only best friend. Their personalities are so different, Percy is solemn most of the time and Oliver is a playful person.
But now, she understands.
Whatever Oliver has done, he did it for love.
“Take him to the Great Hall, Madam Pomfrey is there treating every wounder. His family is there too. They should be reunited, at this point.”
It’s time for her to go to reach out to Harry and Ron. She turns to see Oliver again before she leaves them.
“Do you ever plan to tell him?”
“Percy, tell him how you feel about him.”
Oliver remains silent. He moves his eyes away, clearly, he is avoiding the question. He dare to kill in the war but he didn’t dare to confess his feeling to someone he loves.
“I think you should.”
He knows what Hermoine means. Keeps running away from it then one day he will receive tons of regret for being a coward.
Percy, who just escape from death now is sleeping safe and sound on Oliver’s lap. He looks more vulnerable and small after losing tons of blood. His lips are dry and his face is pale. Oliver takes off his jacket and covers it with Percy.
As the dark clouds swallow the brightness from the sun, Hermoine leaves them alone.