Answer
Author's Notes This is another fic written while I still had inspiration for it (I figured that I'd better write it ASAP before the inspiration goes away). Special thanks goes to Sarah Mclachlan, who has created songs that are perfect for Percy/Penelope.
"So."
"So."
Everything was clean in the kitchen. The dishes were stacked up and dried, the counter clean and shiny. The leftovers had been packed away into lunch boxes. There would be no wasting of the food. The old clock on the wall made loud and noticeable sounds as each second passed. It was Christmas Eve and in the clean, quiet kitchen stood Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater.
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
They stood next to each other, half leaning against the kitchen counter. Once in a while Penelope would shift in her position or Percy would look up briefly at the clock to see what time it was. Neither of them spoke but at the same time they were waiting for the other to break the silence, to make it go away and to make things better. It was the awkward kind of silence that no one liked.
Several minutes later it turned out to be Penelope who made the first move. She leaned in a little closer to Percy, laced her fingers around his and rested her head against his shoulder. Percy said nothing, but the way he held on to her slim fingers said much more than words ever could.
"It's different, isn't it?" Penelope asked quietly.
"Yes," Percy responded and looked up at the clock once more.
If someone else had seen them, it would not take a genius to figure out what was so different about the scene. There they were, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater. One was the son who had felt lost even before he left his family, the other was the daughter who for many years had tried to find her place within her family and was now searching for a place in a world still strange to her even after living in it for seven and a half years. They had both been wandering and in their wanderings they had found each other. What made this Christmas different from every other was that this would be their first Christmas spent with each other, in their own home and shelter. They had wandered too far and there was no one they could go back to.
It was new, it was a challenge. But it was also different. There were no parents to love, no brothers or sisters to laugh with. It was just the two of them, all by themselves.
"At least the food wasn't that bad," Penelope said lightly.
"No… it wasn't."
"And I know that it's just the two of us, but…"
"I wonder if there's an answer," Percy said suddenly and met Penelope's eyes when she looked up at him. "There is a meaning to all of this… to the way things are. I would like to know the answer to it."
"Me too."
Penelope agreed but it was Percy who truly wanted to know. He was the one suffering most, the one who felt that he had to leave loved ones behind and reject them in order to do what was right. But for the first time Percy sounded hesitant, doubting. Penelope had never known him to be like that before.
"Perhaps it's just because they need time to realise things," Percy went on. "Dad can be really stubborn and mum… she bickers with him but in the end she's on his side. And the others, they…"
At this point his voice became a little shaky and he turned his eyes away so that he did not have to look into Penelope's. Instead he turned his eyes towards the clock. The hands showed exactly what time it was, not a minute earlier or later. It was functional, practical. But there were no faces or names on the hands of the clock. Just time.
"We'll be okay," Penelope assured with a small smile on her lips. She brought Percy's hand up, held it close to her heart and planted a small kiss on it. "I'll be your answer, Percy."
She smiled gently at Percy, even when him gave her a strange look and wondered what she was talking about. Instead of settling with just standing by his side and holding one hand, she stepped up in front of him and took his other hand. She leaned in, not to kiss but to stare further into his eyes and lean her forehead against his.
"It will be okay. I'm here, I'll always be. It doesn't matter how far away you'll go. I'm not going anywhere."
At first Percy just stared at her, unable to say anything. His expression was almost unreadable and for a brief and terrifying moment Penelope thought that perhaps she had said the wrong thing. Then suddenly, Percy smiled at her. The smile was not that wide but it was the truest smile Penelope had seen in weeks. She recognised it because it was only that kind of smile on his face that could warm her heart nowadays.
His fingers felt cold but somehow she knew that in time, if she would hold on to them long enough, she could warm them.