A/N: Percy has to do something he never thought he would after he tells his girlfriend his secret. Percy/Audrey. I do not own Harry Potter.
Submission for:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments): Charms Assignment #8 - Write about someone forgetting something or someone important. Prompts: speechless, photo album
DECEMBER Fanfiction Scavenger Hunt Competition: A fic about a minor character (as the main character) - Percy
Happily NEVER After! Destroying Canon/Common Non-Con Pairings! (Challenge): Percy/Audrey
Percy took a breath to calm himself as he waited for his girlfriend to knock on the front door of his flat. They had been dating for six months now and Percy felt horrible for keeping such a big part of his life a secret.
It wasn't easy either. He always had to make up excuses for the odd tapping at his window or the speed at each his brothers always showed up in his home, like they just knew he wanted to see or talk to them without ever picking up the phone. There were no pictures around his flat, as he couldn't very well explain moving photos on the wall and in a photo album. He couldn't do magic around her and there was the heart-stopping moment when she had taken his wand and thrown it to her dog. He had to use Ginny's wand like crazy to scourgify all the slobber before he felt he could use it again.
But in a few minutes, all the secrets would come to light and Percy would tell her everything about the world and wonders of magic.
He knew he was breaking all types of rules punishable by the Ministry, but he really felt like there was something special about this girl. They had gotten together by complete coincidence. Percy had simply been walking through the park near his flat with a cup of coffee in hand, grumbling about the rain that ruined his nice day. Next thing he knew, he was face down in the grass with a large weight on his back. That was how he met The Duke and his owner, Audrey. She took him to a cafe to replace his spilt coffee and to apologize for The Duke's exuberance. And the rest as they say is history.
A sharp noise on wood stopped Percy before he could go too far down memory lane and he walked stiffly to the door. She was here. It was now or never.
She greeted him with a wide smile, her green eyes crinkling behind her silver, square-rimmed glasses, before she leaned in a gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey there, sweetie."
He smiled back nervously and said, "Hello, come on in."
She nodded and let him lead her into his familiar living room, taking a seat beside him on his couch. "You said you had something important to tell me?" she asked.
Percy cleared his throat and took her hand in his, "I know we've only known each other for a short time, Audrey, but I really feel like we have this connection."
He missed the way her eyes lit up before she said, "I know, Percy. I felt the connection as well."
"And this is something I've wanted to do ever since that day I realized that you could be the one," he continued.
She was nodding her head energetically now and if Percy wasn't so nervous, he would have found it a bit odd.
He reached behind him and said, "Audrey, I have something to show you."
"Yes, yes, of course I'll," Audrey began but then stopped when she saw him bring out his wand. "Uhh," she said hesitantly, "You want me to show me a stick?"
Percy shook his head and said, "No, I want to show you this." He waved his wand at the magazine on his coffee table causing it to float to her eye-level.
She was struck speechless, her mouth falling open as she looked between the floating magazine and into his serious face.
"I'm a wizard," he said finally.
There was a pause before she finally found her voice, "Like 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Abra Kadabra'?"
He nodded hesitantly, having heard the Muggle 'magic' words before and unsure of how she was taking it. Her mouth still hadn't closed since the magazine began to float. He replaced it on the table and reached out to touch her. "Are you okay, Audrey?"
She pulled back suddenly and said, "No, no, this is just too weird, too freaky." She quickly sprung up from the couch.
No, he was scared this was going to happen. "No, Audrey, don't leave," he begged as she made towards his door.
"I can't be with someone so... different, so freakish. Magic isn't real, Percy. None of this should be possible," she said still keeping out of reach.
She didn't accept him and now she was going to walk out of his life with his secret. But he couldn't let that happen. He would be in so much trouble if anyone found out.
He acted without thinking, "Obliviate."
He saw her flustered expression turn vacant as he held his wand at her face. He could just remove the immediate memories and go back to how they were before he told her, but it better to just have her forget him completely. He loved her but he knew he couldn't live like this, knowing she wouldn't accept him and having to hide his magic for the rest of their relationship.
He ended the spell and put away his wand as her eyes began to focus. She blinked rapidly before she asked, "Who are you and why am I in your home?"
"You came here asking for the bathroom and was just about to leave," he said not meeting her eyes.
She pursed her lips and nodded as she let him lead her out the door. When they stood on his doorstep, she turned to him and said, "You're kind of cute. Wanna get a cup of coffee?"
She was giving him the opportunity, but he didn't take it. Instead, he forced himself to say, "I'm sorry, but I'm taken."
She nodded sagely and said, "Figures. You seem like a nice guy. Whoever she is, she's a lucky girl to have snagged you. I'll just be going then."
He stood in his open doorway as he watched her walk down the sidewalk. No longer would she randomly pop by to have lunch with him during her lunch break at the local grocery. They would no longer go to the park and eat ice cream by the fountain while The Duke sat at her feet. No more bike rides, window shopping or random cloud watching. She had been Percy's breath of fresh air. She made him relax and let his hair down. He had changed from the uptight man his family had always known him to be. Because of her.
She was supposed to be the one, Mrs Audrey Weasley eventually. He sighed and said quietly to himself, "If only she had thought that way," before closing the door on that part of his life.