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Oliver was so excited he couldn't sit even for a minute. Today was the 13th of February, meaning Valentine's day was tomorrow. He had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Percy was the best boyfriend Oliver could have possibly wished for; he was always so attentive, ready to fulfil all his desires, that sometimes Oliver felt like, compared to him, he didn't pay enough attention to his lover. He was always so busy with his Quidditch practices that he often came back in the dorm quite late and even if Percy would never be asleep before him (he seemed to appreciate working at far-fetched late hours), it would be past the hours when you can do whatever other couples do like going to the cinema or watch a sunset.
Therefore the Quidditch captain had decided to make it up for his lack of attention towards his boyfriend by organising the best Valentin's day ever. When he had seen Percy starting to make plans a month ago (he was the kind of person who enjoyed anticipating things in advance to be sure that everything would go as planned), Oliver had told him that for once he would like to take care of it, that it would be his thanks gift for always being there when he needed him. At first, Percy was sceptical, he didn't want to let all the work to Oliver especially with a decisive Quidditch competition coming soon but the Captain wouldn't take no for an answer. Percy had an extremely busy week ahead and would have certainly not been able to do something as great as he thought Oliver deserved so he finally resigned; something good might come out of it after all.
Oliver was standing in their room when Hagrid eventually arrived, his hands full of what Oliver had asked him to bring. Even though he was very strong himself, Oliver knew he would need help to put everything in place even if Percy was a very discreet person and he preferred avoiding letting people discover their relationship. He wasn't ashamed but he knew that some people (he wouldn't name Malfoy) could use it to push them around and he wanted to avoid at all costs any harm done to Oliver because of his love. Despite that fact, Hagrid was known to be trustworthy and the Quidditch player enjoyed his company. They got to work and thankfully finished in time, it even took less time than expected, Hagrid worked really fast; he was obviously happy for the young lovers. He told Oliver that he was a good boy and that he deserved someone as compassionate and dedicated as the third Weasley.
Percy came back to the dorm rather late, he had been working very hard all day to be sure that he would be fully available for his boyfriend. Therefore the following day when Oliver woke up his roommate was still fast asleep which gave him the opportunity to prepare him the best breakfast of his life. When Oliver came into the room which a tray full of appetising food, Percy smiled softly:
“Wow, who is all this for?”
“It is for a person I love of course.”
“Oh! What a lucky person! This looks delicious!”
“Yeah you surely are very lucky and so am I that you didn't prepare it!”
Percy gave him a falsely offended look, they both knew that Percy was the worst cook in the entire school and the world was definitely better off as long as he stayed away from Hogwarts kitchens.
“You're lucky that I am too hungry to be mad at you!”
Oliver came to sit next to him. The content of the tray tasted as good as it looked and it didn't take long for the two boys to eat it all. Then they stayed in bed without talking for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence. Despite Oliver's strong personality, they made a very quiet couple. They liked simple things and didn't need to set up incredible dates to be happy together.
Oliver finally broke the peaceful silence to propose a walk, Percy had been working in his room for the major part of the last months and needed to see the sunlight. They spent a wonderful day together, happy to finally spend time with each other.
“Did I tell you that I am passionately in love with someone amazing?”, said Oliver out of the blue.
“What is so amazing about this person?”, Percy asked, amused.
“Well, besides the fact that he is gorgeous, clever, affectionate and always there when I need him?”
“Is this person even human?”, Percy laughed.
“Of course! But this isn't what makes him special; what I really am in love with are the little details. For example, when he reads and pushes his glasses back up, he wrinkles his nose in the cutest way possible. When he comes to support me at a Quidditch play and squints because he can't make out the different players on the field, I almost fall from my broom every time!”, Oliver said enthusiastically.
“You're not bad either. Not many boyfriends are this observant towards their partners.”, said Percy, trying to speak calmly but not being able to hide the fact that he was blushing intensely.
After having had dinner in a nice little restaurant, they came back to the dorm and Percy headed for the library, apologising that he had an urgent Prefect matter to take care of and that it wouldn't be too long. Oliver would have usually been bothered but this would give him time to get everything ready for the night. It had been almost a year since Oliver and Percy had started dating but Percy had never had an “intimate” night with someone before and Oliver wanted to offer him the most beautiful first time possible. When Percy came back, he found the room bathed in the soft light of candles. What looked like carpets were hanging from the ceiling, pillows and blankets were laid on the floor to manage a sort of comfortable fort. Percy smiled wildly when he saw Oliver waiting for him lasciviously, he could see the excitement but also the apprehension in his eyes, he was waiting for him to say something, he needed to know if what he had done was being appreciated.
“Oliver, this is amazing! I didn't know you were this good at setting an atmosphere!”
“I am so glad you like it! I was afraid you would see it as a mess!”
“A mess? Are you kidding?! This is the most welcoming place I've ever entered!”
Oliver knew Percy well. He was a very discreet and simple person, he surely liked having some privacy, especially for something as intimate as losing his virginity. Percy entered the fort carefully and laid down next to his lover. He coughed a little bit because of the slight dust caused by the carpets which were probably old but didn't say anything, Oliver must have had a hard time cleaning them the best he could. After having talked and kissed softly, they started getting more passionate. Oliver lifted Percy off the ground and the Prefect wrapped his arms around his neck. Their noses were touching and for a few minutes which felt like an eternity, they looked at each other, truly happy to be together. Then Oliver pushed Percy against the carpet so that their entire bodies would touch. It was first very enjoyable but then Percy stiffened. He broke their kiss and gently kicked Oliver so that he would drop him, kneeled and started coughing violently. Oliver turned pale.
“What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?”
Percy could feel the worry in his voice, he wanted to reassure him but his breaths shortened and it became difficult for him to talk.
“The... the carpets...”
“What is it? Is there something wrong with them? Do you want me to take them out?”
“Too... too late. Have they been ... treated?”
“Yeah, I sprayed them so that there wouldn't be any moth, why?”
“It triggers...”
Percy couldn't take it anymore. His lungs felt like they were on fire, every time he talked he needed several minutes to catch up his breath. But he needed to tell Oliver.
“Asth... Asthma attacks. My bag!...”
Oliver knew about it, a member of his team had asthma and he had been trained to face this kind of situation but he had to admit that Percy seemed to suffer from a much worst form of the disease. When his boyfriend mentioned his bag, he immediately understood what he was talking about. He practically jump to the other corner of the room and grabbed Percy's inhaler; Percy being a very organised person, it didn't take him more than two seconds to find it even though it was buried at the bottom of the bag. He came back, lifted Percy's head, put the inhaler into Percy's mouth and pressed the canister. Percy tried to hold his breath so that the medication would be as effective as possible but seemed in so much pain that Oliver told him to just breathe as best as he could, that it would take effect anyway.
The Quidditch captain knew the hard part was coming. Now he just had to wait and comfort Percy, at least as much as you can comfort someone who's suffocating. He took Percy's hand and with the other stroke the mass of curly, wine-coloured hair on his head hoping that it would ease a bit of his pain. Oliver hated this moment when there really was nothing else to do than just wait helplessly that the Prefect's bronchial tubes deign to open up for him to be able to breathe properly. He felt like he couldn't do anything for his boyfriend, that he wasn't able to save the only person who really mattered and that drove him crazy. To make it worst, Percy started whining and crushing Oliver's hand from the pain. His face and whole body were contorted in suffering and his lips, gasping for air, were turning blue because of the lack of oxygen. Oliver's heart broke and honestly, if he could have taken Percy's pain he would have accepted it without the shadow of a doubt, but all he could do was wait like an idiot! He wanted to be strong for his boyfriend but felt tears running down his cheeks.
“I'm so sorry Perce, I shouldn't have brought those stupid carpets, it's all my fault! But why didn't you tell me you had asthma? We've been dating for almost a year and there are still so many things I don't know about you, why do you always need to be so mysterious?”
He didn't expect an answer but it felt good to just let it out. After a few more torturous minutes, Percy started being able to take longer breaths but didn't open his eyes; Oliver assumed that he had fallen asleep. When he thought it was safe for him to move, Oliver lifted him to his bed and covered him with blankets; the other boy was exhausted and needed to rest.
Meanwhile he took all the carpets out of the room, trying not to move them abruptly so that not too much dust would come out of them; the last thing the Head Boy needed was a second attack. When he came back, Percy's eyes were half-opened. Oliver came to sit on the side of his bed.
“Are you feeling better? Well actually I don't think it is possible for you to feel worst but I just wanted to check on you to know if you were OK... but if you can't answer it's fine! I mean I would be reassured if you told me that you're fine but if you are too weak you don't have to lie to me or anything, I'm not a doctor after all so I wouldn't be able to say if you are really fine or if you would need anything...”
Percy smiled weakly, it was funny how Oliver always talked a lot when he was nervous, that was part of the reason why he did such inspiring speeches before his matches. The Prefect was so happy to just be able to listen to him that he could have let it go on for hours. But he also felt bad for letting him worry so he interrupted him:
“I'm fine.”
His voice was hoarse but he was able to talk and it was enough for Oliver, he sighed with relief and Percy could have sworn that he saw a tear run down his cheek.
“I was so worried, you have very severe asthma, don't you?”
“You did very well, I am surprised by how fast you found my inhaler, I always hide it in my bag.”
Hearing this, Oliver remembered that he needed to reprimand Percy:
“Since you brought up this subject, I wanted to know why you never told me about such a serious health problem. I mean, you could have died, I could have killed you!”
“It's just that, I thought I had it under control, I didn't want to worry you...”
“But you never talk to me about your weaknesses, actually you never talk to me about you personally. You enjoy listening to me talk about myself but you never tell me anything about yourself! I'm I not worth your trust?”
“NO! Not at all, you are the person I trust the most, you matter the most to me and this is why I don't want to bother you with my problems. I want to make you happy, I want you to feel safe when you are with me, not depressed because of all the bad things which happen all the time! I...”
He stopped and looked up at his boyfriend. He was sitting in front of the window therefore the light which was coming from behind him made a sort of halo around him. It seemed like there were sparkles of gold in his hazel eyes.
“I love you.”
That's all Oliver needed.
“It's fine. You've got the right to be weak with me, we need to protect each other. Your flaws aren't a bad thing, they are what makes you the one I care about. The one I love.”
END