Archive of Our Own

Percy was late. Which was highly unusual because Percy, I had found, loved rules and regulations and always followed them to the exact letter. So after realizing that an hour had passed and he hadn't returned to the dorm room, I began to worry. 

Maybe I should go look for him.  I thought to myself after having actually finished my homework without Percy’s help. But then low and behold, Percy walked in. 

“Percy! Where’ve you been? I was beginning to worry about ya!” I told him excitedly. 

“Oh, sorry…” Percy replied quietly and headed straight to the bathroom after grabbing his pajamas without so much as a glance my way. 

Well that was weird. I sat cross legged on my bed and waited for him to come out so I could ask him if he was alright. 

After what felt like forever Percy eventually emerged from the bathroom and went straight to his bed and pulled the curtains around him. 

“Alright there Percy?” I asked now really concerned. 

“I'm fine Oliver. Just tired. I'm going to go to bed early tonight.” He said softly. 

“Um. Okay. Goodnight then.” Without doing his nightly studying or homework? Now I knew something was up, but I couldn't make him talk if he didn't want to. Now that I think about it though… this is like the third time this week he's been late or weird…

I got under my covers and contemplated that for a while before I finally fell asleep myself. 

*************************************************************

The next morning I awoke to the sound of Percy’s usual early morning routine and had mostly forgotten about the events of last night.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Percy asked when he saw I was awake. 

“No, it's about time for me to be getting up. Gotta get used to early mornings for when I get on the Quidditch team next year!” I said with a grin. 

“That's true. They do get up rather early. I'm sure Charlie's already on the pitch as we speak.”

I perked up at that. “Oh yeah! They've got a match tonight! Are you going to watch it with me?”

“Oh. Umm. I'm not sure.” Percy said hesitantly. 

“Come on! It's our team and Charlie's your brother! You've got double the reason to be supportive!” I told him while getting up and changing. 

“Well… that's true.”

“Alright it's settled. You're coming with me to watch the match tonight! Then afterwards we'll celebrate with hot chocolate!” 

“What if we lose?”

“That won't happen, but if it does we'll drown our sorrows in hot chocolate.”

“You really like hot chocolate don't you?”

“Shut up. Now let's go get breakfast, I think there's going to be hot chocolate there this morning!”

Sure enough there was hot chocolate! 

“Mmm. I'm so happy.”

“Oliver, self control. That's your 3rd cup.” Percy told me sternly. 

“I can't help it! My ma won't let me have it more than twice a year!” I said with great grievance in my voice. 

He shook his head at me but I thought I saw a tiny smile on his face. 

“Hey Perce, are you going to watch your big brother win tonight?” Charlie Weasley, my quidditch idol and Percy's older brother asked as he sat down next to Percy and ruffled his hair. 

Percy didn't say anything, just scowled at him and tried to fix his hair. 

“We sure are! You guys have been doing amazing this season! There's no way you'll lose!” I told him excitedly. 

“Thanks Oliver.” he said, grinning at me. 

“We went and watched the end of your practice this morning too, you guys were great, the only thing I noticed though was that your keeper seemed distracted this morning. I don't know if it was nerves or something but he definitely didn't have his head in the game, hope he gets it figured out by tonight.”

“How could you tell?” Charlie asked me, looking slightly surprised but interested. 

“Well…” I went off on all the things I noticed and then that conversation went off onto another quidditch topic, all the while I didn't notice the way Percy sat there not really eating or doing anything until our conversation ended and Charlie said something about it.

“Percy, did you eat anything at all?”

“Huh? Oh yes, I had some toast and jam.”

“Are you feeling alright?” Charlie asked, putting a hand to Percy's head causing his face to burst red. 

“I'm fine! I'm going to go to the library.” He said stubbornly and embarrassedly. 

“What time do you want to meet up tonight?” I quickly asked him before he was gone. 

“I'll be back in the dorms by 5:45.” And just like that he was gone. Me and Charlie gave each other the same confused looks. 

*************************************************************

Percy was right on time which was good because I was aching to go watch Gryffindor beat Slytherin’s butt! 

“Come on Percy, hurry up! I want to get the best seats!” I was practically jumping in place. 

“Okay Oliver! Calm down! It doesn't start until 6:30 anyway.” He said with a roll of his eyes. After he tied his scarf up and said ready I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the Quidditch pitch so we could get the best seats. Only after we were seated did I let myself calm down. 

“Phew. We made it. Got the best seats too. ” 

“Yes. I definitely see the difference between here and where we were last time.” Percy said sarcastically. I chose to ignore that. 

Percy pulled out a book. 

“What do you think you're doing?!” I almost screeched. 

“Reading. The game doesn't start for half an hour.” He retorted without looking up. 

“That's blasphemous! You don't read at a Quidditch match! Besides, you're here with me! Don't ignore your friend!” I told him snatching the book out of his hands. 

“Hey! Give that back!” He tried to reach for the book but I leaned back slightly and kept it out of his reach. 

“Nu uh, you don't get this back until after the game.” I told him with a laugh. 

Something changed after I laughed. The look in Percy's eyes wasn't annoyance anymore. There was something different in them. Confusion? Hurt? Fear? I couldn't quite tell. But it was definitely worrying me. 

“Oliver, please, give it back.” The way Percy said that definitely came out in a way that felt like he was expecting me to hurt him or something. 

“Hey, I was only messing around. I didn't really mean anything by it.” I reassured him by giving the book back. 

He grabbed the book back and held it tightly to his chest, his face red with embarrassment.

“Yeah, I know.” He said not looking at me. 

He definitely didn't know. “Are you okay?” 

“I'm fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes! Please, just forget what just happened okay?” He said getting annoyed. 

“Okay. If that's what you want.” I told him backing off. 

After that I got him to talk about what he thought we'd be learning in classes on Monday and that got him back out of his shell. Then the match started. 

“Look! There's Charlie!” I shouted elbowing him in the side. 

“Ow! Yes, I can see him.” 

The stands were packed, everyone was cheering at the top of their lungs for their teams and favorite players. I loved it and couldn't help fantasying about myself being out there and these stands being filled with my fans. I was so distracted that I didn't notice that Percy had latched onto my arm until he yanked on it hard, almost causing us to knock heads. 

“Hey, what's going on?” I asked him rubbing my arm. 

“I need to go.” He told me urgently. 

“Go? But the match isn't over yet. And I get the feeling your brother is going to catch the snitch soon!” I was very confused. And I won't lie, a little miffed because I did NOT want to miss this game. 

“I... I know. I'm sorry… that was thoughtless of me. You should stay. I'll just go.” he said beginning to stand up. 

“Wait! Stop, Percy, no! I wanna watch this with you. Is it the seats? Here, swap me!” I stood up and scooted him over into my seat. 

“There, now you can really see Charlie!” Percy still looked really nervous but mumbled an okay, thanks. 

“Hey! Watch it, you knocked over my drink!”

I looked at my new seat mate, I didn't know him, but had seen him around. I believe he was a 3rd year Gryffindor. He had dark hair and eyes, and from what I could see a pretty good tan. Then I looked down. Whoops. I did knock over his drink. 

“Och shoot, sorry about that.” I said sincerely. 

I felt a squeeze on my arm again, of course this time it was the other arm. I looked over and Percy had hold of my arm looking really antsy. He wasn't looking at me, but looking down. 

“You should be sorry. What do you plan on doing about this?” 

“I already did something. I apologized. What more do you want?” I said on the defensive. This guy has a bad attitude. 

“Get me another drink.” He demanded. 

I was appalled. Who does this guy think he is?

“Who do you think you are?” I said out loud. 

“The guy who got his drink knocked over by some little punk! So get me a new one!”

“No.” Percy’s grip was tightening and I was about to ask him to let go when the annoying guy jabbed his finger at my chest. 

“Go. Get. Me. Another. Drink.” 

I had enough of this guy. 

“Guy, we're not even supposed tae have food or drinks up here after what the Hufflepuffs did two months ago. Now, I said I'm sorry, I'm not getting ye another drink. So, get yer finger off of me, stay on yer side of the bench, or I'm going tae make you sorry if we miss Charlie Weasley catch the snitch.” as I said this the annoyance was rising in my voice and so was the thickness of my Scottish accent. I shoved his hand away from me. 

“Why you-”

“Hey Hayes, are you seriously picking on a 1st year? Leave him alone or I'll let McGonagall know how you spend your time!” An older Gryffindor girl said from the seats above us. I gave her a grateful nod as this Hayes guy sighed and went back to watching the match mumbling some not nice things to himself.

Percy’s grip on my arm relaxed and though he kept his head down he seemed to be watching the game too. I'll have to ask him about this later. 

I looked at the pitch just in time to see Charlie make an incredible dive with a twist and nab the snitch. It was a good thing Percy had let my arm go because I jumped up pumping my fists in the air cheering with my whole heart. Gryffindor beat Slytherin by a landslide! I looked over at Percy who was smiling and I pulled him up from his seat and wrapped one arm around him shaking him from side to side. Charlie looked our way and gave us a wave and we waved back. 

*************************************************************

Once we got back to our dorm with our hot chocolate mugs I sat on my bed back against the headboard and looked over at Percy who did the same on his. 

“Wasn't that a great match?” I asked still living off the high from the excitement. 

“Yes, it actually was pretty cool.” Percy agreed blowing on his mug. 

“Your brother is so cool!” I told him. Percy just nodded at that.

“Speaking of brothers, where was Bill?”

“Oh, he had a prior engagement.” 

“What's that mean?”

“A date.”

“Och. He should've rescheduled or brought her with him.”

“Believe it or not, not everyone likes quidditch as much as you do.” Percy laughed. 

“Well, I'll never date a girl who doesn't like quidditch.” I said with finality. 

“I believe you.”

We drank our drinks in a comfortable silence for a while after that when I remembered what I'd wanted to talk to him about. 

“Oh right! I wanted to ask you something.”

Percy looked at me and hummed. 

“Do you know that annoying bloke from earlier?” 

Percy’s blue eyes grew huge behind his glasses. 

“No. What makes you think that?” He said, trying to keep his voice even. 

“Well, you kept grabbing my arm when he sat down by us and when I was talking to him.” I know a lot of stuff goes over my head, but I've always felt I was pretty good at reading people's behaviors when I actually pay attention, practice for quidditch. 

Percy didn't say anything. Just sat in his bed shaking a little. A thought went through my head. 

“Is that guy bothering you Perce?”

That got a reaction. He froze then looked at me indignantly.

“No! Of course not! Everything is fine okay? And it's Percy. We should get ready for bed.” 

“Percy, you know you can talk to me right? We're friends after all.” Though it didn't stop Percy, I could tell it did affect him when he paused for a moment before he grabbed his pajamas and went to take his nightly shower. 

We didn't talk about it again. 

*************************************************************

The next day continued like nothing happened. We got up then went to breakfast. We sat with Percy’s brothers where I talked excitedly with Charlie about how his match went. I saw from the corner of my eye that the Hayes guy was sitting only like 4 people down from Charlie talking with some of his pals. I looked over at Percy who either didn't notice or was ignoring the guy and was talking animatedly with Bill about his essay on something or another. After breakfast Percy told me he was going to go to the library for a while and he'd see me later. So that left me to my own devices. I ran out to the broom shed and nabbed a broom for weekly secret flying practice. 

After a few hours I realized it was lunch time soon so I put the broom away and decided to go get Percy from the library to make sure he remembered to eat lunch. As I went down one of the corridors, I heard a few older boys talking to someone. 

“Are you really going to cry? Come on, it's not that big a deal. Just go write your essay again. We need this way more than you do. We'll see you next time weasel.” The boys laughed as they came around a pillar. I didn't recognize two of them, they were older Slytherin boys, but the 3rd I did. It was that Hayes guy. 

I glared as they walked by me, not noticing me at all. I quickly turned at the pillar they had just been at and felt a drop in my gut. Percy was leaning back against the pillar clearly wiping his eyes of tears. 

“Percy, what happened?!” I rushed over to him and looked him over to see if they'd hit him.

Percy jumped when he heard me and quickly put his glasses back on, face burning with embarrassment. 

“Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about.” He said, wiping his nose quickly. 

“Percy, I saw those three blokes come out from over here saying stuff about taking your homework or something. I'm going to get it back for you!” I said turning to go after them. 

“NO!” Percy grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back. 

“I'm fine. Nothing happened! Just leave it alone. And please, don't say anything to my brothers.” 

And with that Percy took off to what I guessed was our room. 

“Percy! Wait!” I called after him, but he just kept going. 

He started avoiding me for the next few days after that. Which in retrospect was really impressive since we had most classes together, and lived in the same room. But Percy was getting up before me and heading out right away, taking his food and eating somewhere secret, getting to class last minute and leaving first thing, and getting to the dorm when I finally fell asleep. I didn't know what to do. 

I was contemplating that at dinner when Charlie and Bill came and sat on both sides of me. 

“Hey Oliver. Got some questions for you.” Charlie said. 

“Okay. What's up?” I asked hoping it was Quidditch related, but with Bill here I was doubting it. 

“Are you and Percy fighting?” Charlie asked, getting straight to the point. 

“Umm…” I did not know how to answer that. We weren't fighting per se. 

“What Charlie means is, we haven't seen our brother around lately, and normally if he's not in the library he's with you.”

Please don't tell my brothers. What the heck am I supposed to say then?

“Well… we're not fighting exactly… but Percy has been avoiding me the last few days, and I don't really know why.” I said trying not to lie but also not admitting everything I knew. 

“Aw man. That's not good.” Bill said, looking at Charlie. 

“I know. I don't know what to do. I want to talk to him, but he's really good at evading me.” I told them glumly and putting my chin in my hands. 

“Don't worry Oliver, we'll find him and sort this out.” Charlie said, patting my shoulder as he and Bill got up. 

“Oh! And when you find him, please do NOT tell him that I told you anything!” I yelled at them on their way out. Bill gave me a thumbs up to acknowledge he heard me. 

I had a surge of hope in my chest that this would help. 

*************************************************************

After dinner I went straight back to the dorm and was surprised to see Percy there. He was sitting at his desk hunched over working on what I assumed was an essay. He didn't hear me come in and nearly jumped out of his skin when I closed the door behind me. 

“Oliver!? What are you doing here?!”

“I live here.”

“I mean… I thought you'd be watching Charlie practice.” he said, running a hand through his curls and knees beginning to shake nervously. 

“Och. It's raining so practice was cancelled.” This must mean his brothers haven't found him then. 

“I see.” 

I watched him for a moment as he sat half turned towards me with his fingers twisting around nervously. 

“Percy… are you still mad at me?” I asked.

He looked up at me then. 

“I'm not mad at you Oliver.”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” I asked, completely confused and walking over to sit on the edge of his bed. 

He turned away from me looking back at his scroll. 

“Come on Percy. You can't keep dodging me forever.” Just an impressively long time, I thought.

“I don't want to talk about it.” Percy said through gritted teeth. 

“Stop being so stubborn! Just be straight with me! Is it that you don't trust me?”

“No!” 

“Then what is it?!” I was yelling now. I'm not proud of it but I was frustrated. 

“Why won't you leave me alone?!” Percy stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. He finally turned around and looked at me and I could see tears in his eyes that he was trying to stop. His face was slightly red, a mix of anger and embarrassment. 

I stood up off his bed and faced him. 

“Because you're my roommate and my friend and I want to help you.”

His face crumpled with an odd look of surprise or disbelief, ( I couldn't tell which) and he tried to walk around me and leave, but I blocked him. 

“No more running Percy. Come on, let's talk this out.” 

“Let me go Oliver! Please!” He was shouting now and trying to push past me, but I held firm.

“Just stop being dumb and talk tae me!” 

Percy’s breathing began to quicken and he was beginning to shake. 

“Percy? Percy, what's happening?”

Suddenly Percy collapsed onto the floor, his hands went to his head, his eyes closed shut, and he was breathing extremely quickly and weirdly. I didn't understand what was happening. 

“Come on, let's get you to the infirmary!” I told him as I reached out for him. 

“Don't touch me!” Percy shouted at me. 

I stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then I remembered, Bill and Charlie! They'll know what to do. I took off down the stairs,  then as if they were angels sent from heaven, there they were just walking into the common room.

“Charlie! Bill! It's Percy! Something's wrong and I don't know what to do!” I yelled at them. 

“Take us to him!” Bill said and without another word they ran up after me to the room. 

Upon entry we saw Percy in the exact same place I'd left him. The Weasleys immediately ran over to their younger brother.

“Percy, hey, look at me. Come on Percy. Come’ere.” Bill was talking in a very soothing but also authoritative voice. He sat on the ground in front of Percy and pulled him into him. Charlie sat next to Bill and ran his hands through Percy’s hair as Bill talked to Percy. 

“Okay, now breathe with me Perce. Breathe in, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, out 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, 4.  Good, now let's go again. In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, 4. Good job Percy. Good, you're alright, you're safe, we're here.”

I sat cross legged on the bed, feeling extremely awkward, not knowing if I should stay or go. But I also wanted to see what it was they were doing to help Percy in case this happens again when they're not around. 

“Do you want to tell us what happened? We've noticed you haven't been well lately.” Charlie asked after a few minutes, still running his fingers through Percy’s curls. 

Percy had his face buried into Bill's chest, hands clutching tight to Bill's shirt trembling hard. His breathing had mostly returned to normal but he didn't speak just, shook his head no. 

“Okay. That's fine. We can just sit here for a while. Take as long as you need.” Charlie comforted him. 

“We're not going anywhere.” Bill promised. 

I heard Percy choke out a sob. 

At that I slowly got up to leave, feeling things were clearly very private now. There was nothing more I could do for him. So I as quietly as possible opened the door and went down to the common room to wait for things to finish. 

*************************************************************

It must've been about 2 hours later when the brothers came downstairs and found me on the chair by the fireplace. 

“Is Percy okay? I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do. I've never seen anything like that before.” I told them quickly. 

“It's alright Oliver. What you saw was one of Percy's panic attacks. He gets them from time to time when he's under extreme amounts of pressure or stress and just gets overwhelmed.” Charlie explained as he and Bill sat in the other chairs by me. 

“I didn't know that was something that happened.” I said feeling guilty. 

“Hey, don't feel bad. It's not your fault. Percy has always been someone who keeps things inside until it explodes. He also always puts more pressure on himself than necessary. It's something the whole family has been trying to work on with him.” Bill explained to me. 

I nodded in understanding.

“Did Percy tell you guys anything?” I asked. 

They looked at each other sadly before looking at me shaking their heads. 

“No. He was very adamant about being fine and that he was just getting overwhelmed with his assignments.” Bill sighed. 

“Oh.” I sighed back. “ I was really hoping he'd talk to you guys.” 

“It's really hard to get him to talk about his problems. But we wanted to thank you for trying to help, and being so patient with him.” Bill said this to me with such sincere gratitude that it really embarrassed me. 

“It's nothing. He's my friend.” I said rubbing the back of my neck and not looking either of them in the eye. 

“Well anyway, Percy’s asleep now. So you're alright to head back to your room. Thanks for helping us with him and please let us know if you can get anything out of him.” Charlie said standing up. 

“Course. I'll do my best.” 

I quietly walked up to our room and sure enough I saw the curtains around Percy’s bed.

I changed and got myself into bed quickly, and as I laid there I wondered what tomorrow would be like. Would Percy avoid me again? Or would he talk to me? Maybe he'd just try to act like nothing happened and move on. It took a while for me to finally get to sleep because of all these thoughts swirling in my head. Oh, is this what it's like for Percy too? No wonder he has panic attacks. This is very stressful. Eventually though, sleep did find me and I gladly welcomed it. 

*************************************************************

The next morning was awkward. Percy didn't avoid me, but we didn't make eye contact or really talk. I don't think either of us knew what to say. Not liking the awkward tension, I decided to try to break it by asking him if he'd sit with me for breakfast today and was pleasantly surprised when he agreed. 

It was nice taking our usual seats together next to his brothers again. 

“Hey Perce! Hey Oliver! Nice to have you boys here again.” Charlie greeted us. 

“Yeah! It's been lonely without you guys.” Bill agreed feigning said loneliness. 

“It's Percy. And you guys are exaggerating.” 

Percy told them flatly while rolling his eyes. 

We all smiled at each other as Percy began to fill his plate, silently all relieved that Percy appeared to be back to his usual self. 

*************************************************************

“Hey Percy. Can you look over my charms assignment and tell me if I did it right?” I asked one night laying on my bed. 

“Sure. Hand it over here.” Percy said from his bed where he was reading because he'd finished his assignments hours ago. 

I stretched over and handed him my scroll and watched him look over my work. Percy had been basically tutoring me the last few months and I was nervous that I hadn't been making fast enough progress. 

“This looks great Oliver. I think you're getting it now.” Percy said with a smile as he handed the scroll back to me. 

“Really?” 

“Yes. I'd even say it's your best work yet.”

I felt myself flush with pride. 

“Thanks Percy! I now have something to look forward to tomorrow!”

Percy grinned at me from the bed sharing in my pride and excitement. 

I put my work away, turned off my light, and crawled under the covers and stared at the canopy for a while, contemplating things while also wishing the canopy had a mural of something. 

“Hey Percy.”

“Hmm?”

“What's it like having siblings?”

“.... What do you mean?”

“I don't know. Just… what's it like? Is it nice not ever being lonely? To always have someone to play with? People to look out for you? I'm an only child so… I don't know. I'm just wondering.” I didn't think I should say that last part in my head, which was that I was thinking about it a lot more after watching Percy’s brothers with him the other night. 

Percy was quiet for a moment. I got worried that I crossed another unknown line with him. 

“I suppose overall it is nice, yes. It can be very stressful and burdensome too though. No privacy, someone always in your space or needing something from you. Not enough clothes or toys to go around. And with enough siblings there can be cliques within your own family… but it can be good like you said when you have someone to look out for you and have your back. Someone there to listen to your problems.” I had turned over on my side to watch him talk and Percy looked very conflicted as he talked about this. And as he ended what he had to say, I got the feeling that he had held back a lot. But I was happy just having him open up to me at all. 

*************************************************************

It had been two weeks since the panic attack incident when it happened. I came up to the dorm room after having secret flying practice to shower and change before dinner. I walked in, grabbed some clothes and was about to open the door to the bathroom when it swung open on me and Percy walked out. 

“Oh, sorry Percy.  I was just going to go show-Holy bloody hell Percy!!!” I shouted. 

Percy stood frozen in place not knowing what to do. I dropped my clothes on the floor and grabbed his shoulders to look at his face better. Rage filled me to the brim. 

“Give me names! Who did this?!” 

Percy had a black eye and bruised lip. It must've been that Hayes guy. Or one of his loser Slytherin friends. 

“It was Hayes right? I'll go straighten him out right now.” I turned to leave, my clothes on the floor forgotten but Percy just grabbed my arm. 

“No, don't. It's fine.” 

I turned to yell at him that it wasn't fine, but the fire died down some looking at his anguished and broken face. 

“Percy, they hit you! It's not fine. This is NOT okay!”

Percy was shaking, and he finally let the tears fall. 

“Do you want me to get your brothers?” I asked. 

“No. I don't want them to see me like this.” He cried, backing up and sitting on the edge of my bed. I went and sat next to him. 

“Why? It's not like they'll be mad at you.” 

“It’s bad enough having you see me like this, I don't want them knowing too and having it get back to my family how I am such an embarrassment!” 

Awkward silence. How I hate awkward silence. Especially confused awkward silence. I did not know what he was talking about. 

“What the heck are you talking about? There is nothing embarrassing about being a victim of bullying!”

“There is when you're from a proud family of Gryffindors who have been famous for outstanding bravery for generations and being able to stand up for themselves and others. My brothers being a future Quidditch Captain in the making and a Prefect with too many duties and responsibilities as it is should be should not be bothered by my measly problem of not being able to dissuade a group of older boys who are mad at me for different ridiculous reasons.” he ranted. 

I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to be comforting while also trying to absorb everything he just said to me. 

“Hey. We're first years. We're allowed a lot of grace for not being epitomes of our houses right now. And just for your information, just now, telling me all this, that's a definite form of Gryffindor bravery.”

Percy turned and looked at me with his good eye. 

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course! It's not easy to admit your darkest secrets and insecurities.” I told him firmly. 

Percy sighed deep. 

“And you know. Your brothers are really cool. And I can tell they really care about you. If you told them what's going on I'm sure they'd beat the snot out of those guys for you! And maybe even let us watch.” I told him with an eyebrow wiggle.

Percy let out a small laugh. 

“Yeah. But I really don't want to tell them right now. I… I think I want to try one more time on my own.” He told me hesitantly. 

“Okay. One more time. I can respect that. I'll keep this a secret between us. But please promise me, if things don't work out, you let me help you. Okay?” I said in a voice that left no room for argument and sticking my hand out. 

Percy sighed again before shaking my hand. “Deal.” 

“Alright, that's a good man. Now let's go get some hot chocolate to help heal those bruises!” I told him getting off the bed. 

“Okay. But Oliver, first do me a favor.”

“What's that?”

“Pick up your clothes and go shower. You smell!”

*************************************************************

It wasn't easy watching Percy lie to his brothers about his injuries. 

“I whacked myself in the face with my broom.” He'd told them. But they apparently bought it because it had genuinely happened before. 

That night after we turned the lights out I asked him the question I really wanted to know the answer too. 

“Will you tell me why these bozos are harassing you?”

Percy heaved out a sigh and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “Well it started a few months ago. Hayes wanted me to introduce him to Charlie. He wants to get on the Quidditch team. I told him no. Said if he wants to talk to my brother he can do it himself. He didn't take too kindly to that. After that he found out how smart I am and brought his Slytherin pals along who need help with some classes and told me to tutor them.” 

 I snorted at that. “Pretty sad that these 3rd years need a 1st year to tutor them. Even if you are a genius.” 

Percy let out a chuckle too. 

“Yeah, I know. I told them that I didn't want to tutor them, I had my own studying to do and that if they really needed help that I was sure someone from their own year could help them out. That's when they grabbed my book bag the first time and were impressed by my work. So much so that they started stealing from me when they could. I've been in the library more because they can't do as much there, but now they've started waiting for me to come out of the library or sometimes between classes.”

“I'm sorry Percy.” I told him. 

“I wish I could be as brave as you…” I heard him whisper. 

“I’m nothing special.”

“At the Quidditch match, I was terrified when Hayes sat down next to me. But when we swapped seats and he was giving you a hard time, you didn't care. You were ready to fight. And… I was impressed and jealous of that.” Percy admitted quietly. 

I rolled over to look at him, knowing full well that without his glasses he couldn't see me. 

“Hey, don't be jealous of me. I'm just the type of guy who acts on impulse without thinking things through. I'm the one who's jealous of your big brain! You get the best grades in school, your magic is already ahead of everyone in class, and you know something about everything. You're going to be someone someday who can change the world!” I told him waving my arms around like what I'm sure was a blurry lunatic as he turned facing me. 

“No, you get things done. And you're always so outspoken telling people what's on your mind without fear of any consequences. You know how to go out and have fun. And you're popular with everyone.”

“Popular? I'm not popular.”

“Yes you are. People are always trying to talk to you. You just probably don't notice because you're too busy talking with my brothers and their friends.”

“Huh. I really haven't noticed.” I said thinking about what he said. 

We both laid there thinking about what the other had said. 

“I wish our canopies had a mural.” I said out of nowhere going back to my earlier thoughts. 

Percy laughed hard at that. “That truly came out of nowhere.” 

I laughed with him.  

*************************************************************

A week passed without incident and though I didn't ask and he didn't tell me, I hoped Percy had faced his fears. 

“Man. I am so glad class is over. I just can't stand Professor Snape.” I complained to Percy as we headed to the library together. Percy was going to help me find some good study books to help me with potions since that was the new cause of strife in my life. At least I had a handle on Charms now. 

“I agree. He is most definitely not on my list of favorite anything.” he replied. 

Once we got to the library we made quick work on finding the books I needed. 

“Okay. I think that's all of them. Should we head to the dorm and I can give you a quick overview before Charlie's match tonight?” Percy asked. 

“Yeah, that'd be great.” I said as we made our way down the corridor. Halfway to the dorm though Percy stopped dead. 

“Oh no! I forgot one of my notebooks in the library.” Percy said, patting himself over and double checking the notebooks in his arms. “I'm going to go back really quick and get it. I'll meet you back in the dorm in a bit, it shouldn't take long.” 

“Okay. Do you want me to take your stuff with me?” I offered. 

“Oh, thank you.” He said as he handed me his book bag and notebooks that didn't fit in his bag and took off as quickly as he could down the hall without actually breaking the rules by running. 

I carried our stuff to our dorm room and put Percy's stuff carefully on his bed before hopping onto mine, dumping everything out, and looking at what books Percy had picked out for me. Hmm. Magical Drafts and Potions, Cure All Potions, oh here we go, Potions Made Easy. Nice. After about 20 minutes, I began to get worried. Percy should be here by now. Maybe he got distracted by a book. I decided to go look for him.  

I got to the library quickly and asked Madame Pince if Percy was still there. 

“No, Percy left here a little bit ago.” She told me. 

How weird.  I thought and quickly left the library. If he wasn't in the library, and I didn't pass him in the corridor…

 As I stood there in the corridor probably looking dumb and lost, I looked outside the window and saw a group of 3 older boys goofing off in the courtyard. When I realized I knew that group of boys there was a big drop in my gut and I instantly felt a mix of emotions. Anger, fear, nausea. 

I took off down the corridor looking for Percy behind each pillar on the way to the courtyard, until I came to one near some trees and heard a terrible sound I had hoped I wouldn't hear again.

“Percy?” I asked walking to the outside pillar slightly covered by trees and bushes. 

“O-Oliver?” Percy was on the ground sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees pulling them tight to his chest. He had another black eye, this time his other eye had been hit, his glasses were gone so he was squinting with his good eye, and he was clearly having another panic attack as was evident by his gasping for breath. 

I knew full well that Percy's brothers were unavailable as they were getting ready for the match or to watch the match. So I got on the ground next to Percy and wrapped an arm around him pulling his head onto my shoulder and leaning mine gently on top. I could feel his body shaking almost violently against mine. 

“Yeah, it's me Percy. Don't worry, I won't let anything else happen to you. But we gotta get you calmed okay? Let's do that breathing thing I saw your brothers helping you with okay?” I said to him trying to recall what Bill had said. 

“Okay, okay. Breathe, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2,3,4, out, 2,3,4, and hold, 2,3,4.” Since I had my head on his I couldn't look to see if I was doing it right, but I could hear him taking the breaths as I instructed. 

“Alright, let's go again. Breathe, 2, 3, 4, hold,2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4, and hold 2, 3, 4. Good Percy, good. You're sounding better. Are you feeling any better? Am I helping at all?” I asked worried that I wasn't helping. 

Percy nodded against my shoulder, still working on his breathing. I continued sitting with him, gently rubbing his shoulder trying to decide if I should talk or not. 

“Is it okay if I talk? Or do you want me to be quiet?” I decided on letting Percy choose. 

“T-t-talk.” He managed out weakly. 

“Okay. So, yesterday while I was practicing quidditch by myself, in a totally non rule breaking way by the way, I saw the giant squid stick out a tentacle! I swear it's true! It was right in the middle of the lake. It almost felt like it was waving at me or something. Maybe later today I can show you where I saw it. Also, I don't think I remembered to tell you about how I got the best Charms grade I've ever gotten and that we need to celebrate! Hot chocolate all night long! You know we definitely need to learn a spell that will just continuously refill our hot chocolate mugs when they run out. It's an absolute crime how that hasn't been invented yet. But then again we may be made famous for inventing it so I guess we don't need to punish society for that because we could make it rich thanks to that. I'm telling you Perce, between the two of us we'll make it big.” I continued to ramble for a while until I heard a sound come from Percy and couldn't tell if it was a sob or a laugh. 

He finally lifted his head off my shoulder and turned to look at me with a half grin. 

“You are such a hot chocolate obsessed dork.” It must've been a laugh. 

Tears were still coming down his face, and he looked an absolute mess from head to toe, but at least he was breathing normal now and could talk. 

Choosing to ignore that partially true statement I asked “Are you feeling well enough to tell me what happened?”

Percy hesitated before finally talking. “Umm… well, they caught me coming out of the library. They pulled me out here and demanded my notes. But instead of giving them to them, I told them to step off.” Percy said this with a bit of pride. “Of course though when I said that, they didn't take too kindly to it. So Riley, the bigger Slytherin boy held me from behind while Hayes hit me and took my notebook and glasses.” Percy began to choke a bit. “I can get a new notebook and take new notes… but Oliver, I don't know how to tell my family about the g-glasses.” His voice broke on the word glasses. “We can't afford to get me a new pair. And I can barely even see you from right here. That's why I didn't leave this spot. I was scared of getting lost.” Percy let out another sob. The rage inside me returned full force. 

“Percy. Everything is going to be okay. I'll be right back.” I told him standing up. 

"Wait, where are you going?” Percy asked, alarmed. 

“Keeping my end of the deal.” I told him as I stomped toward the courtyard. Then just in case I yelled over my shoulder, "Wait for me there.”

Just as I was hoping the boys were still there. I stomped right up to Hayes. 

“Hey, I believe you have something that belongs to my friend. Give it back. Now.” I demanded holding out my hand. 

Hayes looked at his friends and they all began to laugh. 

“Are you saying you're friends with weasel? I can't believe that scrawny know it all has friends.” The taller Slytherin boy laughed. 

My patience, which was rather low, was nearly gone. 

“Don’t call him that. Give me back his stuff. I'm not going to say it again.”

“You want these? Come and take’em then.” Hayes said, holding up the glasses and laughing. I had a flashback to watching Charlie's match with Percy and how upset he got when I took his book and did the same thing. Now I know why he was so upset. 

I went to grab for the glasses but he was too tall and he shoved me to the ground. I had figured that would happen but I had to try anyway. 

“Aw, too bad. Guess they're mine forever now.” he said putting them on his face. 

“How do I look, boys?” He said, showing off.  

I stood back up and suddenly remembering the last charm Percy had taught me and immediately pulled out my wand, “Accio glasses!” I yelled and the next thing I knew they were in my hand.

Uh oh. The boys were not happy. I quickly put my wand and glasses in my pockets and prepared myself for the punch Hayes threw at me. 

WAM

I fell backwards and tasted blood, but managed to stay on my feet. My ma being a muggle, I learned how to fist fight from my uncles and cousins. Also, I learned how to take hits in preparation for Quidditch.  

I ran up to Hayes, dodged his next punch and kicked his feet out from under him. Once he was on the ground I threw a killer right hook ( if I do say so myself) and heard a loud crack. 

“Aaaaaagh! Fetch! I think he broke my nose!” Hayes yelled at his friends. 

The tall one came after me next and I could hear a crowd forming as I dodged a spell he shot off at me. When he missed he moved to grab at me instead along with his buddy and I didn't see who but one of them knocked me down with a good sock to the eye. Unluckily for them I bounced right back up and rammed my head into their gut, hard,  knocking them down. Then without thinking and no ounce of guilt I kicked the other one where the sun don't shine. 

“Aw bloody….” he groaned as he collapsed. 

I heard people in the crowd make sympathetic sounds of pain.  

“That's right. Now which one of ye has Percy's notebook?” The one I had kicked in the crotch slowly pulled it out and held it up for me. 

“I'll be taking that.” I told him as I accepted it. 

“Who are you kid?” The other Slytherin asked, finally getting his breath back. 

“My name is Oliver Wood. First year Gryffindor. Now listen here, you lot will not be messing with Percy Weasley ever again ye hear?”

“Wat do u car’ somch ‘bout weasel fer?” Hayes asked not sounding right as he tried to stop his nose from bleeding. 

“Percy Weasley is my best friend!” I shouted. “So let this be a lesson tae ANYONE who thinks of messing with my best friend.” I leaned in close to the 3 idiots as I said this next part. “So, you three better hope no one touches him ever again, because if anything else happens tae him, it'll be yer heads I come after.” I could see them visibly shaken by that. 

I got pulled back by a loud voice.

“What is going on over here?!” It was a Slytherin prefect. 

She walked over to me and looked shocked to see all the damage on us 4. 

“Someone start talking.”

“You see miss, these 3 beat up my fellow first year friend and took his glasses and notebook.” 

 I lifted the items up as proof. “So I came here to find them and get my friends' stuff back, but they weren't too happy about that so they beat me up, forcing me to defend myself.” I told her as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to Percy. 

“Are you boys kidding me?” She yelled at the 3. 

“Unfortunately Cassidy, it's all true. We all saw it happen.” A Hufflepuff girl I don't know told her. 

“I can't believe what I'm hearing! You, you're a Gryffindor! Bullying a 1st year is bad enough, but two from your own house?!” She made a very disgusted noise at that. “Fifty points from Gryffindor!”

“Aw c'mon!” Hayes cried. 

“And you two. Absolutely pathetic that you're stealing a first year's notes. You have bigger things to worry about if a first year can pass your third year classes. Fifty points each.” 

They both moaned in unison. 

“Now, for what you've done for your friend and your amazing fighting skills, I can't believe I'm saying this, but a hundred points for Gryffindor.” She said, smiling at me. 

“Wow! Thank you so much, miss. But, I really gotta go. My friend needs his glasses.” 

“Of course. Go on, I'll take care of this mess.” 

Cassidy, as I had learned, said, then kicked one of the Slytherin guys on the ground causing him to moan in pain. 

I took off like a bullet back to Percy who was thankfully right where I left him. 

“Percy! It's alright, I'm back. And I've got them.” I told him proudly as I gently pulled out the glasses and put them on his face for him. 

“How'd you - OLIVER! YOUR FACE! WHAT HAPPENED?!” Percy shouted at me in shock. 

“What? Do I look that bad? Or do you just think I'm that ugly? If it's the latter, then that's just plain rude Percy.” I told him with my arms crossed trying not to laugh.

“You know what I'm talking about. What did you do?” He told me completely unamused. 

I grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet and started guiding him away from the pillar and to the corridor.

“Dinnae worry about it. I just told them to leave you alone. And you know what? I think they finally got the message.” 

He looked at me with astonishment and suspicion. 

“But how?”

I laughed.  “Trade secret. Now, should we see if we can still get some seats at the match?” I asked him enthusiastically. “If we keep our hoods up, no one will pay too much attention to our faces.” I told him seeing the nervous look on his face as he carefully traced one of the bruises he had. 

“I suppose….” 

“Great! Let's go!” I said excitedly as I dragged him away. 

*************************************************************

“I knew we'd win!” I told Percy enthusiastically as we left the Quidditch match and were on our way to the great hall. 

“Of course. We have Charlie.” Percy agreed. 

Once we got to the doors Percy stopped abruptly. 

“What's wrong?” I asked him. 

“I think I'll just go back to the dormitory tonight. I don't want my brothers seeing me like this.”

“They won't care Percy.”

“I know but… I just don't feel ready to talk about it with them.” He said, looking away. 

“Okay. Well shoot. I was hoping to talk to Charlie about his play today but I guess I can do that tomorrow.”

“No, it's okay. You go. I know how much you enjoy your time with him. Just… bring me a roll okay?” 

Before I registered what he'd just said he had hurried off. So I went into the great hall without him. I looked at the table and grabbed a tray, taking the bowls off of it, grabbed two plates, put them on, then  began filling them with food. 

“Wow. You're really going to town, aren't you Oliver?” 

I turned to see Charlie laughing at my actions and then saw his face change to absolute shock and horror. 

“What the heck happened to you kid?!” He slid closer to me to get a better look.

“What's going on?” Bill asked from the other side of the table sliding closer so he was right across from me. 

I kept piling food onto my tray as I explained “It's no big deal. Just got into a bit of a scrap with some 3rd years.”

“What?!” They said in unison. 

“Tell us who. We'll straighten them out for you.” Bill said while rolling up his sleeves. 

I grinned as I told them “It's alright. I don't think they'll be bothering anyone anymore. And that Cassidy Prefect girl helped to make extra sure of that after I had my way with them. But I appreciate the thought.” I looked at how full the plates were. Hmm. Need dessert. I began piling desserts to the sides of the plates. 

“Well… if you say so. So how come you're piling this tray with food? And where's Percy?” Charlie asked.  

“Oh, he's not feeling well so he wants to stay in the dormitory. I'm bringing dinner up to him.” I began forcing mugs of hot chocolate to stay on the tray. 

“Well thanks Oliver. That's nice of you. But why are you taking 6 mugs of hot chocolate?” Bill asked with a curious smirk. 

“Isn't it obvious? 3 for him and 3 for me.”

I lifted the tray up carefully off the table. “Oh Charlie! Do you think tomorrow we could talk about how great your match was today?”

“Course kid. Now, be careful with all that and let Percy know we miss him and hope he feels better.”

“Great! Thanks.” I called to him as I headed out.

 Right before I got out the door I saw an older Gryffindor girl I didn't know sit where I'd just been and heard her ask the Weasleys if they knew me. When they said yes she said something along the lines of ‘oh my gosh, do you know what he did today?’ Then the door closed behind me. 

“Percy, can you open the door?” 

“Oliver?” Percy questioned as he came and opened the door for me. He looked shocked as I walked in the over packed tray and carefully sat it down on my bed. Then I pulled out my wand and moved our two night stands next to the bed and put the tray on them. 

“Come sit. I got us food!” I told him patting the space beside me on the bed. 

Percy came and sat beside me looking confused.

“What? Do you not like any of this?” I asked as I shoved a buttered roll in my mouth. 

“No, no, it's more than enough! But… why are you here?”

“Because you're here.” I told him without much thought and took a swig from one of the hot chocolate mugs. 

“But I thought you wanted to talk to Charlie.” He said confused. 

“Yeah. I did. But you wanted to eat up here.” 

“I'm confused.” 

“So am I.” I said, putting a spoonful of shepherd's pie in my mouth. 

I put a roll in his hand. “Here, have a buttered roll.”

“I told you that you should stay and talk with Charlie. I know how much you enjoy your time with him.” he told me while looking at the roll instead of eating it. 

“Yeah, I do. But like I said I can talk with him tomorrow. I want to spend time with you.” 

“But why?” He asked, twirling the roll in his hands. 

I stopped eating and stared at him trying to see if he was serious. He was. 

“Because you're my best friend.” I said flatly as though it was obvious. Because I really thought it was. 

Percy sat looking at me, mouth gaping. “I-I… I'm your best friend?” He asked, completely shocked.

“Yeah. I thought it was obvious.” I told him as I took another big bite of the shepherds pie. 

“But… I thought… I um…but Charlie?” he was completely flustered and confused. 

What's so confusing about me thinking of him as my best friend? And why does he keep bringing up Charlie? Wait a minute… I squinted my eyes at him. 

“Wait a minute. Did you think this whole time that I thought of Charlie as my best friend?” I asked him while nearly choking. 

“No! W-w-well.... Mmm… okay, maybe yes!” He stammered completely embarrassed and red. 

“Why in the world would you think that?” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. 

“Well it's just that you two have so much in common and you're always wanting to watch his matches and hangout with him. And you just seem to have more fun with him than you do with me.” he said that last part rather quietly. 

I sat there staring at him as he stared at his hands in his lap that were crushing the roll he'd still yet to take a bite out of. 

“Do you really think those things?” 

“Yes. That's why I said them.” He stated flatly. 

“Well they're not true. Sure I have fun with your brother, and I do think he's really cool, mostly because he is, but Percy, he's like 3 years older than us. He's not my best friend. He's already got a group of close friends that probably has a best friend in it. I just think of him as my idol, or someone to look up too, since I don't have any siblings. You're my best friend. You listen to me talk about Quidditch without getting too annoyed, help me with my homework and studies, eat meals with me, go to matches with me, share this room with me, and you're so funny! What did you think we were if not friends?” I said with a laugh. 

Percy hadn't looked up at me at all, clearly still too embarrassed. 

“Dorm mates?” He said as more of a question. 

“Dorm mates? My gosh Percy, we hangout way more than just dorm mates. Here, try the shepherds pie!” I said sticking a spoonful from his plate into his mouth. “You're too thin because you never eat enough or drink your hot chocolate.” I told him. 

“Anyway, you're my best friend. Not Charlie. So stop worrying about it. And if you already have a best friend, you should point them out to me. But it's okay if you do. I'll still consider you mine.” I finished my first mug of hot chocolate and began working on the second one as Percy looked at me with wide eyes. 

“I don't have a best friend.” Percy told me after swallowing the shepherd's pie. 

“Okay.” I said.

“But… are you sure? I mean…. About me being your best friend. Do you mean that?” he asked, finally looking up at my face burning red where it wasn't black, blue, or purple. 

I put down my mug.  “Percy. Look at me. Look at my ugly mug. Do ye really think I would go through all this trouble for just anyone?”

“Well, I do feel like you would help anyone you found in trouble. That's part of what makes you a good person.” he pointed out. 

“Okay, fair enough. I don't like bullies. But I only go to this level for my favorite people. And you, Percy Weasley, are my favorite person. You are my best friend. Now, please eat. Believe it or not, I got this for us, not just all for me.” 

“I'm sorry. I guess I just don't understand. I'm so boring. And fickle. And you've seen me… at my lowest far more times than I'd like to admit.” He said as he finally took a bite of the flattened roll in his hands.

“You’re not boring. You're super entertaining. And we don't need to talk about your attacks. Don't worry about it. You just need to stop worrying and accept what I'm telling you.” I nudged his shoulder with mine. “We're going to work on your self esteem.”

Percy’s face stayed red. But he nodded. “I'll try.” He whispered. 

We ate for a while in silence. 

“So… if we're really best friends… then does that mean if I invite you to my house this summer you'll come?” Percy suddenly asked nervously.

“Of course! That'd be awesome!” I said with a huge grin on my face.

Percy smiled back. 

“So… does that mean I'm your best friend too?” I asked him with a side glance. 

“Yes.” 

“Wicked.” 

“Can I ask you something?” Percy asked after a while. 

“Course mate.”

“Why in the world do we have 6 mugs of hot chocolate?”

*************************************************************

The next day did not go how I was expecting. When we went down to the great hall and sat with Percy’s brothers, they didn't say anything about Percy’s bruises. Which Percy seemed happy about, but I had mixed feelings. Shouldn't they be concerned? My mind was spinning a bit when suddenly,

“Here Oliver, eat your breakfast. You need to eat properly if you're going to be on the Quidditch team next year.” Percy told me as he stuck a spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth. 

“Thorry. I buz distrrrrcted.”

“Don't talk with your mouth full.”

I swallowed the food in my mouth then grinned at him. “See, you are funny.”

Percy didn't look at me, but I could see him smile. 

*************************************************************

After breakfast we went to our classes. We passed the three idiots a few times, and they pretended to not see us. 

I put my hand on Percy's shoulder. “See, I told you that you had nothing to worry about anymore.”

“Yes. It appears you were right.” He nodded in agreement. 

We walked a little bit more when Percy said “Thank you Oliver. I am very lucky to have you for a best friend.”

I don't think I'd ever smiled so big in my entire life. 

*************************************************************

Me and Percy had parted ways, him to the library, me to the broom shed. I flew around for a while feeling pretty good about myself. It was nice to be in the air, feeling like everything had worked out and was going to be fine now.  I had a handle on all my classes, I had a best friend who I was going to visit over the summer and no more school bullies. After about an hour of wonderful freedom, I finally came down and went to put the broom away. Coming back from the shed though I was met with unexpected company. 

“Hey kid, we got something to say to you.”

“Oh Bill, uh, i-i it's not what you think!” I stuttered out, afraid Bill was going to get me into trouble for taking a broom with Charlie as a witness to my humiliation.

That's why I was so surprised when they came on both sides of me and wrapped me in a hug. I stiffened in shock and confusion. 

“What's happening right now? Do you two know something I don't? Like am I dying?”

“Thank you Oliver.” Bill whispered to me. 

“You're welcome…. Umm for what?” I asked dumbfounded. 

“For what you did for Percy you numbskull.” Charlie laughed ruffling my hair similar to what I've seen him do with Percy. 

“Oh, you found out about that?” I said nervously touching my hair after they let go of me. 

“How could we not? You're the talk of the school!” Charlie said. 

“1st year Gryffindor comes to the defense of his fellow 1st year and best friend when 3 loser 3rd years steal his homework because they can't do their own, and get completely pummeled!” Bill said hands cupped around his mouth so his voice came out sounding like an announcement.

“It's all over the school.” They said together. 

I stood completely amazed by this new information. 

“Nooooo!”

“Yes.”

“Do people know Percy was getting bullied then?” I asked them terrified that Percy would find out and freak out. 

“A few, but we asked it not to be spread around. And Cassidy has been very helpful with that.” Bill told me reassuringly. 

“Oh good.” I said with a sigh of relief. 

“Anyway, we just wanted to thank you for watching out for our little brother. We know he can… sometimes be a challenge.” Charlie told me. 

“Yeah. It means a lot to us.” Bill said in agreement. 

A gentle warmth washed over me as they told me these things. 

“It's no problem at all. That's what best friends are for.”