I always looked forward to coming into work on a Friday because it meant that I was one shift away from the weekend and I could fully release all of the stress that had built up within me. Just the thought of having the entire weekend off to do what I wanted had me walking with a spring in my step. Of course, most people didn't manage to get every weekend off from work but when you were one of the favourites of the department, it was just a little perk. One that made up for having longer shifts, earlier starts and later finishes than most of the other people in the department. Of course, that was because I was working as an assistant to one of the senior members of the staff.
Looking to the clock, I realised it was almost time for my meeting and gathered all the papers on my desk into one single neat pile. Gathering a quill and an inkwell and adding it to the top of the pile, I magicked them to levitate after me with a single wave of my wand on my way out of the office. They followed effortlessly after me as I made my way towards the lift to go up a floor to one of the meeting rooms.
The lift was unnecessarily packed and even as I found myself squeezed into a corner, I reminded myself that I was only squashed in here because I was going up one floor. It would be over in a flash. And quite literally within a matter of seconds I arrived at my destination and forced my way though the crowd. Adjusting my robes and casting a look over my shoulder to check that the documents were still following after me, I hurried down the corridor towards the meeting room. I could not afford to be late.
Finally catching sight of the room, I forced my feet to slow when I recognised my direct superior who was already waiting for me in front of the door. At first, I had assumed that he would be like the other more experienced members of staff, ready to chew me out for daring to make him wait, but it didn't take long for me to realise that he wasn't like it. Percy Weasley understood that it was natural for people to get held up with other things and he had been in my position a while ago. He tuned in to the sound of my heels against the laminated floor, straightening up to his full height and glancing towards me.
Even as I continued to walk, now at a much more leisurely pace towards him, he didn't so much as rush me. Instead he continued to wait patiently until I stopped beside him.
"Good morning," he greeted with a small smile that was slightly more relaxed than the one I knew he would give the people that were waiting inside to hear from us.
"Good morning," I returned, turning to look at the documents that were still floating behind me. Holding them safely in one arm and making sure that the quill and inkwell would continue to trail after us, I looked expectantly towards him. "Ready to head in?"
"In a minute," he said and allowing for a single moment for me to see how nervous he became before these meetings. I of course understood why he was feeling this way; it wasn't easy to have to face off against corporations that made world famous brooms as well as members of Department of Games and Sport. It was going to be uphill battle but we'd have to fight it together.
"Rowena this isn't going to be easy," I said after a moment, filling the anxious silence that stretched out between us. "How in Merlin's name are we going to get them to agree to follow the new regulations that the Head of department wants to place?"
"We'll have to," he was resolute. Rolling his shoulders slightly, he straightened out his robes and after throwing me one final reassuring smile, he was all business, "Did you organise what I asked you to, Norton?"
"The data about broom-based accidents?" I checked and at his nod, I reassured him, "I've got it all with me."
"This is going to be the most infuriating hour of our lives," he confessed, reaching for the door handle. He paused, scowling for a moment before grumbling, "We'd better get it over with."
And before I could say something in return, Weasley was pushing the door open and gesturing for me to walk in before him. With a silent thankful smile, I walked in first and cast a glance around the boardroom that was full of unhappy faces; this really was going to be difficult. They'd all no doubt heard about the changes our department wanted to make and were going to do their very best to stop it. But, as the department in charge of transportation, it was our job.
Removing my wand from my robe pockets, I levitated the inkwell and quill to rest on the table and ended the spell. Placing the documents down shortly after, I sat down gratefully when Weasley drew my chair out for me from under the table. He was quick to follow, sitting down beside me and making sure to keep his back ramrod straight, shoulders out to their full width; he wouldn't be intimidated. Not when it came to his work.
There was a tense silence where no one spoke, not even to extend greetings. From the corner of my eye I spied the glance Weasley threw towards me and instantly began to spread the pieces of parchment out in front of me so everything would be easy to find.
Clearing his throat firmly to end some of the snide chatter that had started up around the room, Percy propped his gathered hands on the table. I crossed my legs at the ankle, preparing for a fight that was absolutely going to drain me.
"Shall we begin?"
I spent the majority of the next day relaxing at home to recover from that disaster of a meeting. It had overrun; what was supposed to take an hour wound up taking almost four instead. Frustratingly enough, it was a common occurrence because the people that created the bloody brooms weren't willing to listen. No doubt they would attempt to ignore the regulations that were placed on top speeds and they would cite some reason for having to create a broom that went at 70 miles an hour. Rowena, we had shoved so many statistics about broom related accidents down their throat and still they didn't understand. Eventually we'd had to resort to assuring them that the laws restricting top speeds would pass and if they did create illegal brooms, they would be brought to stand before the Wizengamot and sales of their brooms in Britain would be prohibited. It was a slight bluff on our part but it was one they accepted with very little fuss.
It took a ridiculous amount of time to get over the hours where I had been forced to listen to grown wizards and witches squabbling like children. It was just a speed restriction! One that was going to save lives by stopping players from ramming into the ground at 70 miles an hour. Who cared about making a broom faster if a slower one was known to save lives? Thankfully now that the meeting was over and I had no lingering business to deal with, I could begin my transformation into the person I became for a few hours every other Saturday night. Off went the Ministry robes, the professional dress and down came my hair from its usual bun. And on went the dress that ended mid-thigh, clinging to my body and the heels that were perfect for dancing.
Sometime after the war had ended, I had accepted my muggle friend's invitation to go clubbing, something that was so out of character for me but the need to feel alive after losing so many of my friends had prompted me to accept the offer. There was something about dancing my stress away that made it slowly become an essential part of my lifestyle. If only in this way I could completely let loose and I didn't have to be the girl that had grown up too quickly to fight a war where I'd lost people I'd loved. I could be just like another other 22 year old.
The girls were already dressed and hanging around in my front room as I decided what shoes to wear for the night. Finally picking a pair, I cast a charm to prevent myself from feeling the inevitable pain associated with wearing heels for hours on end and strapped them on securely around my ankle. I checked my reflection once more and shoved my wand securely down the front of my dress; easily hidden but well within reach if I needed it. Once I grabbed my purse, I joined my childhood friends and then we were off, heading to our usual club; I could already feel my inhibitions melting away.
Even if it was crowded with too many people the way it usually was on a Saturday night, we held hands and pushed our way through the throng of people to take to the bar. The bartender, one who recognised our faces almost instantly was already pouring out a row of shots for us. We took it with a smile and as was custom, Shauna paid for the first round and I instantly put down an advance payment for the second round that quickly followed once we had downed the small glass in one go. The burn that came with it, whilst it was tame compared to fire whisky, was welcome all the same.
The alcohol, warming us from the inside out, was already working and after the second round we were all off towards the centre of the dance floor and I couldn't help but laugh slightly when Briella reached out to spin slightly on her unsteady heels. I caught her quickly by the arms securing her and frowning at the man I spied from over her shoulder; the bloody piranhas were swarming already.
Bringing a hand up to cover my mouth, I murmured a protective repelling charm under my breath to keep groping men at bay. It was a precaution, but this was something that I would rather be too cautious about. The charm worked the way it always did and I was more reassured about the safety of all my friends. Or rather that was until Emma nudged my arm and gestured towards Zuri who had managed to get outside of the perimeter of the charm and was finding herself staring up into the face of this intimidating bear of a man. Her eyes were peering at us from over his shoulder, screaming out for help and our dancing was cut short. Especially when he reached out to put an unwelcome hand on her shoulder.
We moved as one, approaching Zuri and roughly forcing our way in between her and the bear. Taking her by the hand, we essentially frogmarched her towards the bathrooms after throwing some bullshit excuse over our shoulder. The man of course looked like he was going to protest, wildly at that, and I narrowed my eyes in preparation for needed to cast a nonverbal spell. Thankfully one of his friends led him away before the situation could get too bad. It was very rare for such an encounter to completely ruin our mood but it did happen because some men just wouldn't listen. It was honestly, almost enough to make me hex the muggle.
Dismissing my thoughts before they could turn darker, I continued to follow a short distance behind Zuri making sure that man who was using all sorts of curse words to describe us, didn't follow after her. I kept a look out, scanning the surrounding area as if expecting him to pop out of the crowd only to falter for a moment. What the fuck was Percy Weasley doing here?
The sight of him standing with a drink in his hand, was so shocking that my feet screeched to a halt. He was stood nodding absentmindedly at something one of his brothers – judging by the hair – said to him as he kept his eyes on me. He didn't look away, not even when he raised the bottle to his mouth. I never expected to see him in a club – but to see him in a muggle club of all places!
"What is it?" Shauna asked, putting a hand on my arm and scanning the crowd to see what was keeping me there. She too was on edge in case Mr Bear wanted to make a comeback.
"Nothing," I murmured, finally averting my eyes from Percy's and rushed into the bathroom where I found Zuri shedding relieved tears in Bri's arms.
Embracing the smaller girl, I patted her back and listened as she confessed how worried she was about what would have happened if we hadn't managed to step in and I could only nod distractedly. It definitely made me a terrible friend but all I could think of was Percy Weasley. The same Percy Weasley who had asked me to work overtime today and I'd declined citing that I had important plans that I couldn't possibly miss. Merlin, why me?
Monday morning found me once again returning to my prim and proper Ministry worker uniform, I wore it with pride and with my head held high. But today it was almost impossible to do because I knew that I was going to at some point run into Percy during the day and I could only hope that he had the sense to keep the things I did in my own time separate from my work life. I planned to avoid him until I was literally forced to join meet him.
But, after entering my office and shrugging out of my outer robes, I took my seat at my desk and reached instantly for my planner. Reading through my schedule for the day, I winced when I spied the very first thing on my list; a meeting with Percy bloody Weasley. It wasn't a meeting I could put off either; we were supposed to be discussing the new regulations and how we would ensure that it was enforced properly. We needed to discuss the penalties people faced if they didn't comply and it was so important that I would be forced to see him even if I didn't want to.
Gripping the handles of my chair tightly with my hands, I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I would remain professional. Professional and aloof. If he tried to make a comment about it, I would remind him that he had been at the club as well. So who was he to judge me?
Forcing myself to my feet, I walked slowly out of my office and headed straight for the one right next to my own. Merlin, I used to like that our offices were so close together because it meant I wouldn't have to trek across the Ministry to find him whenever I needed to check something. But now, now I resented it.
Reaching the door to his office, I hesitated outside of it for a good while and swallowed thickly. I could do this; I'd faced much worse situations! Raising a fist, I held it aloft before knocking quietly on the door. The short pause had my heart hammering in my chest for a long moment and I shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other before Percy's voice came through the door.
"Come in."
I tried not to wait too long before opening the door to his office. Pushing it open, I stepped inside and found him busy inspecting some papers that were spread out across the entirety of his desk. Even as the sound of my heels drew closer to his desk, he didn't look up. He simply gestured for me to take the seat across from him and I did as order.
Crossing my legs at the knee, I watched as he picked up his quill to sign the bottom of the document, giving whatever, it was his approval. He didn't look at me still as he waved his wand at the parchment which formed an aeroplane and flew out of his office. Percy screwed the lid onto his inkwell before pulling out one of the drawers of his desk. He reached in briefly, removed something from inside it and placed it on the desk in front of me.
My eyes instantly went to the small glass vial, brows rising in surprise when I recognised it as a potion. The brand label on the front gave away what it was – a hangover potion. Instantly I was defensive, uncrossing my legs and straightening out in my seat. When I brought my eyes to his, I tried to read what he wanted to say but there was no sign of condescension there.
"I don't need it," I declined eventually with a shake of my head.
"Alright," he said right away, plucking the potion up and stashing it away in his drawer again. He crossed his arms and propped them on the desk as he wondered, "Do we need to go over the minutes from the last meeting? It did get rather hectic towards the end."
"I remember it all? Don't you?"
"Not really," he admitted with a slight, small shrug and then I was beginning to go over everything that we had discussed in the last meeting that had taken forever. Percy nodded slowly, listening closely as I spoke and commenting on some of the points I made. "We need to discuss penalties, right?"
I nodded again and then we were sitting in silence, both of us lost in our thoughts. But then, then I couldn't help but ponder on the meaning of his silence; why did it feel like he was treating me differently today? He probably still thought I was hungover, that I'd left my mental faculties in that damned club bathroom. Well that wasn't the case, at all!
"I only go there every other Saturday. Only once every two weeks," I hurriedly defended, startling him from his thoughts. He blinked slowly at me in surprise, clearly not expecting my sudden words. "Only to let loose, to cope with the stress from work."
"Ok," he said slowly, straightening up in his chair to consider me for a moment. "But I didn't ask."
"I know you didn't," I muttered, "but just because you didn't ask doesn't mean that you weren't judging me."
"I wasn't," he said instantly, resolute. "I wouldn't judge you so you can put those misconceptions to rest, Norton. Now let's get to work, alright?"
When the time came again for me to join the girls at our usual haunt, I didn't even think about it. The stress from the last two weeks had built up inside me and I was all for relieving it in the way that I knew was most effective. I dressed my best, as usual, before we went to our favourite club. Instantly Zuri took to the front of our group, leading us through the busy crowd towards the bar. We had been here so often that the bartender took one look at Zuri, recognised her and instantly turned away to pour our first round of drinks.
We crowded round the bar, taking a seat and waiting for the first round of shots. I downed mine in one go, finishing it and I swore that I could feel a heavy gaze on my back. Casting a curious glance around the club, I almost completely missed the person that the gaze belonged to. But my eyes dropped back, finding Percy's already waiting for me and I couldn't stop the way my brows rose in surprise.
For a moment I allowed myself to look over Percy, taking in the muggle clothes he was wearing. Rowena, I don't think I'd ever seen him dress casually and the last time I had seen him in this very club I certainly hadn't paid attention to his clothes – his presence had been enough. But he definitely suited it. Shauna, sitting beside me, nudged me with my elbow and prompted me to look away from my work superior.
"Are you coming?" she asked, gesturing to the other girls who were already heading towards the dance floor.
I hesitated for a moment, eyes flickering towards Percy who was steadily making his way through the crowd – no doubt to reach me. When I looked back towards Shauna, all I needed to do was give her an apologetic smile. She hovered beside me for a moment longer, making sure that I wasn't feeling unwell before she too disappeared into the crowd. All that was left for me was to turn back towards the bar and wait.
Without needing to be prompted, the bartender placed another drink in front of me but this time I was slow to drink it, sipping slowly. As I knew he would, Percy took to the stool right beside me and ordered a drink. I shot a curious glance towards him but didn't speak a word and instead waited.
Percy waited a little moment longer before clearing his throat pointedly. "Do you always come to this one?"
"I do," I answered instantly, turning bodily towards him and studying him for a moment longer. Part of me wanted to ask if he had invested in muggle contact lenses to complete his muggle outfit. But I didn't ask that and instead found myself studying his eyes for a moment longer; had they always been that blue? "Is that a problem?"
"I was just curious." He shrugged, raising his bottle towards his mouth. "Any particular reason?"
"This was the first club me and my friends came to," I confessed with a slight smile. I settled in the answering silence for a moment before considering Percy closely. He didn't appear to be out of place at all which really didn't make sense; this was the last place I'd have ever expected to find him. But then again, people would say that if they found out about this particular part of my life as well. "Is there any reason you're here? Did you come here to find me?"
"I'm not going to answer that," he declared, rolling his eyes before taking yet another drink. "But don't you feel out of place here?"
"Do you?"
"A little," he confessed, turning in his stool so he was facing me. "I always thought that the pair of us were quite similar so I couldn't understand your attachment to such a place. Part of me wanted to see what drew you here and made you keep coming here."
"I did feel out of place in the beginning," I confessed and it must have been the alcohol in me that made me brave enough to reach out to pat his knee reassuringly. He straightened up at the contact but I didn't say anything or even draw my hand back. "I'm not the alcohol and partying type but Merlin, the war changed me. It changed everyone and there was just so much stress in my life that I needed to get rid of and that was when Briella invited me out for a drink. Drinking just enough to get rid of my inhibitions and dancing for hours on end is a relatively harmless way to get rid of that all."
Percy looked at me for a long moment, and it was like he was weighting my words, it seemed as if he was trying to read into my very soul. But I didn't look away. I held those bright beautiful eyes and when he nodded only once, I felt more than a little relieved. Rowena, I shouldn't have been seeking his approval so much and yet it quite clearly meant something to me.
"I get it," he assured me quietly, with a gentle smile. "Maybe this is better than diving headfirst into Ministry paperwork."
When again, it was time for me to join my childhood friends in releasing all of my inhibitions, I was more than a little reluctant to do it. Mainly because I couldn't seem to bring my mind to forget the stack of papers on my desk that seemed to be increasing with each passing day. I was certain that when I returned to my office on Monday morning it would have doubled in size. When considering just how much more work I was putting off, I didn't exactly want to go drinking. In fact, I rather wanted to pull an all nighter to get the work done.
Or maybe that was only the case until I spotted the wizard sitting waiting at the bar. Once I had properly recognised him – only after Percy had glanced across the room and finally met my eyes – I was walking quickly and overtaking the rest of the girls. They caught my arm instantly, looking over me with concerned eyes.
For a moment I didn't understand why, but that was only until Briella had begun to speak, "Are you feeling ok? If we knew you weren't feeling well, then we wouldn't have made you come out with us."
"It's not that," I protested instantly, with a shake of my head. With no other choice, I gestured towards Percy who cast a curious glance towards my friends who were beginning to crowd around me, "I have someone I need to talk to."
Zuri was the first to understand. Dropping my arm, she peered around me to get a good look at Percy. Satisfied that he wasn't some weirdo, she met my eyes and gave a shake of her head even as she smiled slightly, "Geeky always was your type."
"That's not it," I protested, even as the rest of the girls followed suit. "I work with him, that's all!"
"Whatever you say," Briella said with an annoying roll of her eyes as she corralled the rest of the girls and escorted them as far away from Percy as possible. She always knew when people needed their space.
When I was left alone, I turned instantly towards Percy and managed to wade my way through the extremely packed room. Ducking around a couple that were getting a bit too frisky together, I crossed the remaining space between me and the bar before finally sitting on the empty barstool beside Percy. He didn't greet me with words, instead inclining his head but I swore I could see amusement lacing his eyes at my friend's actions.
"Looks like I won't be able to come here whenever I want to avoid you," I teased, planning to wave the bartender down. But he beat me to it. I watched in silence as Percy waved down the bartender and ordered both of us a drink.
"Did I get the order right?" he asked finally, turning curiously towards me and I nodded back.
"What's the matter with you, Weasley?" I asked as the silence between us continued to lengthen.
He wasn't quick to answer me. Instead he waited until our drinks were placed before us and I reached instantly for my glass, taking a slight sip. Still, he continued to sit without a word; the silence between us was surprisingly weighty when I considered just how loud the rest of the room was.
"We're young," he started abruptly, catching me by surprise as he took a sip of his own drink. "I'm only 25."
"And?" I prompted, knowing him well enough to know that there was something else he really wanted to say.
"I'm only 25; so why does it feel like I'm double that?" He shot me a contemplative glance and I couldn't answer him. I couldn't even tell him that sometimes I felt exactly the same. "I'm about to collapse under the stress of everything."
"Percy," I said slowly in disbelief, never having heard him say something like that before. "I don't think we've had much time to be young anyway. We were made to grow up before our time."
"But still – even before the bloody war, even while I was in school, I never once let myself be young. I always focused on making sure that everything comes together. It seemed so important that I got what I wanted and I'm there now, but why is it nothing like I thought it would be?"
There was no answer that I could give him; what could I say to him when I didn't know the answer myself. Instead, I continued to watch him in a contemplative silence. Instead of offering him some pointless advice that would probably do more harm than good, I reached out to shake his arm. He looked at me in surprise, coming out of his thoughts; there would be no more overly deep words leaving his mouth tonight.
"Drink up," I ordered, pointing to his half-filled bottle. When he hesitated to do as ordered, I downed my drink in on go to drive the point home. Finally understanding, Percy was quick to finish his drink and turned expectantly towards me.
Jumping up from my seat, I held out my hand towards him and when he hesitated again, I nudged my hand even closer towards him. With no choice but to comply, Percy slipped his hand into mine and let me haul him out of his seat. As we got closer towards the crowded dance floor, Percy's shoulders tensed but still he complied without a word. Throwing him a reassuring glance from over my shoulder, I finally stopped at the edge of the crowd; if we got any closer to the middle he would probably retreat again and then this exercise would have been completely pointless.
"Percy," I said meaningfully, taking the hand I was holding and dropping it to my waist. His eyes widened dramatically and for a moment I thought he was going to remove his hand but he didn't. if anything, he grasped me more firmly and brought his free hand to grasp the other side of my waist. With an encouraging smile, I loop
I had been right; when I walked into work the Monday after my night out with Percy, the pile of documents at the corner of my desk had doubled. My eyes had instantly headed towards my writing table the moment I walked into my office and I swore, just the sight of that pile made me want to turn back around and head home. I was so very close to doing it as well, but I knew that putting it off for longer would only make that pile grow even more.
With a sigh, I was slow to remove my coat and my bag and crossed the space towards the horrific stack. Sitting down in the chair with a scowl, I reached up to grab the first of the papers at the top of the pile and started to read through it slowly. Merlin, whoever wrote this bloody thing was clearly struggling to string their sentences together.
Silently waving my wand at my hair, I felt it pile itself atop of my head and secured it into place with my wand before I got to work. Even if I did enjoy my time at the club and the lie in I gave myself on Sunday morning, I should have forced myself to do some work from home. This was going to take forever to get done. When I found out who was responsible for the parchment that had been added to the stack when I had been at home for the weekend, - my weekend off – then I was going to do … something to them. Of course, I would have to make sure that I didn't lose my job in the process of it all.
My plotting was cut short at the sound of a knock on the door. Letting the parchment pass from between my fingers to rest on the table, I glanced towards the door. With a resigned sigh, I called out, "Come in."
The door was pushed open almost instantly and I scowled instantly. Percy walked into the room, shutting the door behind him and returning the scowl with one of his own. "That is just rude, Norton."
"It's because you're here to lump me with more work," I explained, gesturing towards the corner of my cluttered desk.
"I'm not here to give you more things to do," he assured me, walking slowly into the room. Not brothering to explain what he was doing here, he reached out for the papers at the top of the pile and reading haphazardly over it all. "Who in Merlin's name is giving you all these things to do?"
"I'm not sure, but if you find out who it is, feel free to drop one of your brother's stink bombs in their room. I promise to pay you back."
"I'll work on finding that out," he promised with a slight smile, perching on the edge of the desk and considering me for a moment from behind his glasses. "There's talk of a promotion coming my way soon and the head of department is eyeing you for my current position. What do you think?"
"I think," I started slowly, pulling my wand out from my hair and feeling it all come loose instantly, "that it sounds like much more work. Not that I would turn it down; I'd just have to stop spending my weekends the way I do now."
He frowned almost instantly and by the way he was so quick to wipe it from his face I knew he hadn't meant to show his emotions so vividly. Under my curious eyes, he struggled to raise his own to them. "Do you think so?"
Unable to stop myself from smiling knowingly, I leaned towards him as I asked teasingly, "Admit it Weasley, you do go to that club to see me."
Recognising that he was cornered, he instantly raised his guard and parried, "So what if I do?"
"Then I – nothing," I finally said, left with absolutely nothing to say to that. Merlin, I hadn't expected him to agree with me. "But if I do have to give up on my fortnightly nights out, I'll have to find another way to release the stress. I don't think drinking and dancing will be a solution anymore."
"Don't worry," he assured returning the documents to the top of the pile and rising to his feet. "I'll help you find another way."
A partial solution to a lifestyle that seemed to add an ever-increasing amount of stress to my frail shoulders was something that some people would consider absolutely common sense. I simply stopped thinking about work when I wasn't at work. It was hard to do, and it downright went against my personality but I was getting better and better at dealing with it. But Percy's ever constant support by my side was one of the reasons that I was so good at carrying it out. Percy was my support and I was his. We helped each other.
We had gone as far as to take our lunch breaks together, to stop ourselves from slipping back into disruptive habits. Where we used to spend the hour camping out in one of our offices with sandwiches to tide out stomachs over as we worked, we made sure to put it out of our minds for the hours' time. I was slowly beginning to hate the walk back towards our offices after lunch because it meant that we would have to begin working again.
But today I hated it even more for another reason altogether; I had forgotten to place a numbing charm on my feet before wearing my heels for the day. And now as my feet ached with each of my steps, it was too late to do anything about it. Instead I was forced to walk slowly at Percy's side and masked the pain I felt with each step I took.
"You're fidgeting. What is it?" Percy asked abruptly, coming to a stop and forcing me to do that same. I instantly wanted to scowl; standing still meant that all my weight was on my feet – the pain was instantaneous. When I didn't answer him, he raised an eyebrow and prompted, "Well?"
I didn't bother to lie to him. "I forgot to put the numbing charm on this morning."
"I honestly don't know what that means."
"My feet are aching," I admitted as I began to walk again. My reasoning was simple; the sooner I started walking, the sooner I got back to my office and the sooner I could take these shoes off.
"But you wear high heels every day," Percy protested but still offered me his arm. I had no pride, choosing to cling instantly to him so I could take bigger steps and get there even quicker.
"I normally put the charm on every morning," I confessed. "But somehow I managed to forget today; I think I was so busy making sure I had everything I needed for the day."
"We'd better get you back so you can take them off," he murmured worriedly as if he'd read my mind.
Percy began to speed up a little but he continued to send concerned glances my way, being careful not to cause me too much pain on our way back to the Ministry. I wanted to tell him that it would hurt regardless, that the brief pain was worth arriving quicker. But there was something so endearing about the concerned furrow between his brows that had me holding my words back. Instead I continued by his side in silence, not even making a remark about the way our current position was garnering inquisitive glances from the employees in the hallway. In fact, the only time I removed my arms from his when I caught sight of the wizard standing between the doors of our offices. Even from a distance the red of his hair gave away his identity as a Weasley.
Confused by my sudden retreat, Percy looked towards me with a curious frown but I did nothing more than point towards his brother. He followed my finger, and instantly his shoulders tensed as his brother started to smile meaningfully.
"What are you doing here?" Percy asked bluntly and I was so curious about the way Percy was avoiding my eyes that I almost forgot about the pain in my feet. Almost.
The other Weasley didn't answer his brother's question and instead had eyes only for me. "I guess this means you're Norton?"
"Yes, but how – ?"
"I'm George," he explained, holding his hand out and I was quick to shake it. "Percy said something about you wanting a stink bomb placed in someone's office. I'll do it free of price, anything for family. And to get back at a stuffy Ministry worker."
"Family?" I focused on the word and couldn't help but look to Percy for an answer but he didn't have one.
"Well – future family," George amended and it was enough for Percy to suddenly awaken.
He turned instantly towards me but not before shooting a glare towards his brother. Meeting my eyes, he gestured towards my office, "Don't listen to anything he says, just go back to your office and get comfortable. Aren't your feet hurting?"
I almost hesitated, wanting to stick around and hear more. And perhaps I would have, if my feet weren't aching quite as much. But I did as told and went to my office after saying a goodbye to George. The moment I closed the door, I kicked off my shoes but remained by the door. It wasn't as if they could stop me from eavesdropping.
Through the door I heard Percy complain, "Must you be so embarrassing?"
Whatever response his brother gave was too quiet for me to hear, but what he must have said made Percy grumble in a way I'd never heard before. The handle of my door turned so suddenly that I quickly rushed towards my desk, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping and gritting my teeth at the way my soles burned with each pace. I moved quick enough to appear nonchalant when the door was opened.
The sound of a throat clearing had me looking over my shoulder as if I had been disturbed whilst working. My brows rose slightly when I realised that George had popped his head in through the door. From over his shoulders, I caught sight of Percy pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Ignore him," George said quickly, already knowing where my eyes had headed. When my eyes met his own, he spoke warmly, "You should pop round to the Burrow; I'm sure that mum would just love to meet you."
And before I could possibly come up with an answer to that, Percy was reaching in to grasp his brother by the arms. He started to pull him physically away from the door, managing despite the struggles that George gave to resist him. Even as his older brother tried to remove him, George continued to speak teasingly although I was certain that his words were meant to tease Percy and not me.
Not that I managed to hear what he was saying. Percy spoke over his brother, so loudly that I couldn't understand a word of what George was saying. Merlin, I'd never seen him behave so childishly before – it was rather welcome. "Just ignore whatever he says, Norton. Get on with your work whilst I –"
"It's ok," I assured quietly, my voice enough to stop the two brothers from squabbling. And even when they both looked towards me seeking an answer, I only had eyes for Percy as I continued meaningfully, "I'd love to meet your mother one day."
And then, then after a short pause he was nodding in understanding, really knowing what I meant. He allowed himself the short respite before he continued to try to forcefully remove a now smugly silent George who didn't even try to resist now. Both brothers were wearing satisfied smiles.