"Mom, cut it out!" Percy pushed his mother's hand away from his tie for the fifteenth time. "I look just fine. Stop smothering me."

"I'm just so proud of you," Molly beamed at her son as if he were the most precious thing in the world. "Winning an award after only a year away! And now you're back here with us, and I'm just so proud of you Percy!"

Percy scowled at the shit-eating grins that his two older brothers had on their faces. The two of them were only happy because for one Bill wasn't being constantly bothered about his future child -Fleur was only weeks away from giving birth- and Charlie wasn't being bothered about how he can't spend the rest of his life with a dragon.

"I still can't wait to meet his girlfriend we've heard next to nothing about," George sat at the table across from Bill and winked, "and if she's the reason you've been so sassy lately."

Sassy? George was such an ass.

"Oh! I'm just so excited to meet her and your little friends! Kelly, you said her name was deary?" Molly tried to fix his tie again, but Percy pushed past her and sat at the table.

"Kayla," Percy said and grabbed a piece of bacon off of the plate in the center of the table.

He didn't bother mentioning that he knew about his sibling's little bet about the reason he'd kept it from them the past few weeks was because she looked like a dog. Even their friends were in on it. What they didn't know, is that the reason was quite the opposite. Kayla was quite possibly the most beautiful woman Percy had ever met.

And she'd chosen to date him, of all the people that had been working with them the past year. They'd only been together three weeks, but it had been three bloody-good weeks.

Of course, Dakota had a lot to do with pushing the two of them together, considering she'd been friends with Kayla since they were at Ilvermorny. And, she would never let him forget it, but he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that someone like Kayla could ever be interested in someone like him.

And now she had to suffer through meeting his crazy family and overbearing mother. This was going to be an interesting night. He knew Dakota and his other friends could handle them fine, but he wasn't sure about Kayla.

Kayla was amazing but soft. Though Percy hadn't known much before meeting Dakota, he knew that she had gone to Ilvermorny together.

"I still don't believe it, to be honest," Bill said quietly enough, so their mother didn't hear.

"I do," Charlie shrugged. "He kept Penelope from us too, remember?"

Percy's brothers continued to talk as if he wasn't sitting at the same table with him as if he didn't have ears and could hear their relentless teasing.

"What of your friends then?" George drawled. "If you've got a girlfriend, surely you've got friends. What's that one you always mention, Dakota? What's he like then?"

Percy didn't bother correcting him and pointing out that Dakota was a girl, and that she was his best friend, and had been the past year. In fact, he had few friends that were males. They'd figure it out soon enough.

"Oh, enough of that," Molly said to them. "Percy, you need to get going soon, you said that you needed to be there early?"

"Yes mother," Percy stood and kissed her on the cheek before making his way toward the chimney. She tried to stop him and baby him more, but he was able to get away.

"We don't get kissy-wissy's too Perc?" George yelled after him.

Percy turned in the chimney and shot his brothers a glare, all of which were making kissy faces at him.

This was going to be a long, long day.

..

..

Percy sighed when he entered the large room. It was beautiful, the ceiling almost as beautiful as Hogwart's dining hall. It was decorated in starry-light, and dimming lights made him nervous. He was supposed to give a speech after accepting his award. But he couldn't think about that right now because he'd promised to help set up. He was only one of many getting an award, and he'd promised weeks ago to help.

..

..

..

"And now, I am proud to give this next award to a man who has been working for me in North America, spear-heading the investigations into the murders and disappearances of many magical creatures in Northern Canada. Percy Ignatius Weasley."

Percy stood and ignored the claps and gazes from the crowd, especially the whistles and loud yells from his friend's table across the room. He was nervous as it was, he didn't need to see anyone's face if they showed any sort of disappointment or doubt.

Once he arrived at the podium, his boss grasped him on the shoulder and beamed at him proudly, earning him a nervous grin.

"Percy, we have you to thank for everything we've accomplished this past year, but I also have you to thank for bringing a seemingly impossible team together to do so. A year ago," Mr. Jackson looked out to the crowd with a charming smile, his hand still on Percy's shoulder. "I would have never guessed that the rowdy table in the back there," he motioned toward his friend's table and they cheered and whistled loudly once again. "Would ever be the strong group of individuals who would make such a difference, and according to them, it's all because of you."

Percy barely listened as his boss continued his introduction speech. He had made the mistake of catching Kayla's eye, who had cheered almost as much as Dakota had from their table. She looked mesmerizing, and it made him want to vomit. Then his gaze had glided over to his family's table. Seeing his mother with a box of tissues, and the smiles and proud looks on his sibling's faces was enough to send any man to tears.

He was so grateful for them. Thankful for their forgiveness, most of all. He'd been terrible to them once upon a time, though he'd still loved them, he'd never shown it. And when Fred had died, no one let him blame himself for it. That had been a year and a half ago, and his family was stronger than ever, and he was a part of it.

The loud cheers and clapping snapped Percy out of his trance, his boss handed him the framed document, and he barely heard him as he announced that they were promoting him as well. A promotion? He hadn't known about that. He barely heard him as he announced him once again and stepped to the side, allowing for Percy to take his place at the podium for a speech.

Percy stared across the crowd, forgetting the words he'd planned to say. He'd written a simple speech, thanking his friends and family, but somehow that didn't seem like enough.

"C'mon Perc!"

Percy's eyes snapped back to his friend's table but moved behind it. Dakota was standing up in the back of the room urging him to start. He'd been standing there for far too long not to start.

"I-," Percy gulped and looked to his family's table, smiling when he saw George put his hand out to Bill, knowing they'd made a bet that he would stumble. Those jerks knew him too well.

"I had prepared speech, simple, to the point, you know, how award-speeches are supposed to be. But after my best friend Dakota read it, she told me that it was so boring she'd have to stand up the entire time to prevent herself from falling asleep," Percy said and scrunched his eyes. "And now that I see her standing back there with an obscenely large drink in her hand, I know she wasn't joking."

A round of laughter erupted throughout the room, making him grin. Heads turned toward the back of the room where Dakota was standing only a few feet from Kayla's chair.

"So, I've decided that maybe she was right. So, I'd like to tell you about a book of mine. And this book, well this book is one of my most valued possessions. I actually shrink it down to the size of a pack of gum and bring it everywhere with me." Percy reached into his pocket and pulled it out, placing it on the podium in front of him. After clearing his throat, he continued.

"You see, this book represents everything I have ever loved, particularly, my family, and my mother. My mother, God bless her, is overbearing and, well, smothering at times, but she's probably the best mother in the entire world. And I know everyone says that, but seriously mine is the best." More chuckles broke out as he pulled his wand out. "In all honesty, my mother is the main reason I'm standing here today."

Percy waved his wand above the brown-leather book, and it returned to its normal size. The book was tattered and old, pages were half-falling out, and letters had been taped to the inside so that it was so bulky it was amazing the entire thing hadn't combusted yet.

"A few years ago, I almost gave up on myself. I uh, I made a few mistakes that I thought I would never be able to fix. I wasn't a very nice person for a few years there, and I even went months without talking to any member of my family. I treated them poorly, and I never thought they'd forgive me. During that time, I was pretty lonely, but I had this book, and it was the only thing I had connecting me to them."

He forced the tears in as he stared at the book, flipping over to the very first page.

"In this book is every single letter, every card, every piece of paper every member of my family has sent me since I was eleven years old, starting with the letter I received my first day at Hogwarts." He looked back to his family and saw that every person at the table, and the one next to it that held his youngest siblings and their friends, was at their full attention.

That letter, might I add," Percy looked over the crowd with a grin, "is nine pages long. Nine, pages, and I'd only been away from my mother for a day."

The crowd laughed again, and he continued.

"It has everything I ever received during my time at school, in the summers, and most importantly, it has every letter my mother sent me when I worked at the ministry. Because even when I said terrible things, did, terrible things, my mother still wrote me. Every Sunday at ten in the morning, my family's owl would appear on my stoop and drop a letter that held details of whatever member of my family was up to. And every letter would end with her telling me she'd always love me, and she'd never give up on me."

Percy felt the air leave the room.

"This book is the reason that I accepted this position with the International Confederation of Wizard's Magical Creature's office. Because in doing so, I have been able to make choices that aim to better the entire wizarding world. Every time I make a decision, every time I question if the choice I am making is ethical, who it will benefit, I think back to these letters. To the mother who has never given up on me, to the family that never stopped writing, never stopped caring, no matter what I did to them. I think back to all of the times my older brothers talked me through the many tests I thought I'd fail, the letters of advice on my love life from my baby-sister, and even the exploding glitter bomb that my three younger brothers sent me on my last day at Hogwarts."

Percy shut the book and looked out at the crowd.

"This award doesn't represent just my accomplishments. It represents every word of advice and encouragement my family, my friends, my co-workers, my team, have ever given me. It represents the sleepless nights that so many people have spent the last year fixing the problems with magical creatures that North America has had in the past few years. So, thank you. To all of you. This award is for you."

Percy grinned nervously as the crowd cheered, whistles coming from the back of the room again. He left the stage with his boss clasping his shoulder tightly again and talking in his ear, as was one of his co-workers. He barely heard what they were saying though, because his eyes were still at the back of the room, on Kayla, who he hadn't gotten a chance to see yet because he'd been so busy helping get things set up. And boy did she look beautiful in her navy-blue dress.

He had an assigned seat with all of the others at the tables in the front of the room, he wanted to sit with her, but the table was full. Even Dakota's seat had been taken by Jeremy's girlfriend.

So, he walked back to her table and kissed her on the cheek, taking note of her red cheeks and empty wine glass, then made his way to stand Dakota.

Dakota was dressed in a long black dressed that curved around her figure perfectly. He knew it was strapless because she'd made Kayla look at it before buying and he'd just happened to have been there, but the black leather jacket she wore with it covered the tattoo she had sprawled across her shoulders.

When he arrived, she told the man standing next to her to beat it so that he could stand with her. The man looked annoyed but moved. Percy couldn't blame him for being annoyed, though Dakota was his best friend, even he had to admit that she was drop-dead gorgeous. With her wavy blonde hair and bright green eyes, tall, athletic figure and a smile that could kill, it was hard not to admit.

Though Kayla was much prettier in his opinion, the exact opposite in terms of looks, and about a foot shorter than the both of them, she was just as gorgeous. Percy knew he was a lucky man.

After giving Dakota a half hug and a grin he turned toward the stage and leaned down to whisper to her. "Was it boring?"

"Cheesy motherfucker," she said under her breath. Her arms were folded across her chest as she spoke, one hand lifted to cover her mouth. He noticed she had a tissue in it.

"Bloody hell, did you cry?" he teased. "You never cry."

The two of them clapped their hands as another person was introduced on stage, this time from another department, but he hadn't heard which.

"No, but your mother sure as hell is," she nodded toward his family's table, who was sparing glances back to them. "Why the hell is the one with the green tie giving me two thumbs up?"

Percy narrowed his eyes. George was grinning ear to ear as he held his hands up, and Charlie was leaning talking to him with a matching smile. His mother was still dabbing her eyes with a tissue, and his father's hand was on her shoulder reassuringly.

Wonderful. His mother was in tears, his brothers as annoying as always, best friend sassier than ever, and girlfriend drunk. All that craziness and he couldn't stop smiling.

"Please tell me they don't think that I'm your girlfriend?" she whispered to him, this time louder than before.

That thought had not occurred to him, but given that they couldn't see his girlfriend's table from their angle, it could be likely. Which was both hysterical and annoying.

"Honey, no one believes that someone as gorgeous as you would waste your time with the likes of him," a tall man with chestnut brown hair drawled from a few feet away. "Or any Weasley for that matter. A pretty-little thing likes you deserves to be touched by a worthy man."

Oh no. Dakota didn't do well with comments like that about her friends. Or about her.

Percy put his hand on her arm and leaned down again, so he was whispering right in her ear, "don't waste your time."

Dakota shoved him off and turned to the man with folded arms and a popped hip. The smirk on her face made Percy look away. He knew that look. That was the cunning look. The look that a Horned Serpent got when they were about to strike someone with wits.

"Really? Because I'd fuck any one of them before I'd fuck you, sweetheart," Dakota said in a mock-seductive voice. "Even his sister."

Nevermind. That was not the look they got when they were going to be witty, it was the one they got when they were going to be perverse. Wonderful.

"Gross," Percy said and shook his head. The man stared at his best friend with wide eyes.

"Get lost, before I show you what we do in America to assholes who like to sexually harass girls who are doing nothing but standing," Dakota waved him off and turned back to Percy with a scowl.

"How much fire-whiskey have you had tonight Kota?" he asked with a grin.

"Enough not to put up with that bullshit," she responded. Another round of cheers broke out as the last award was announced.

Percy couldn't believe how quickly the night had gone by so far. The event was to continue with drinks, and he was expected to stay and mingle, but he was already exhausted. And he knew that his speech was going to earn him the never-ending spiel about how great her sons were.

The two of them walked to Kayla's chair, weaving around the crowd that had begun to stand. She stood and gave him a hug, then started whispering nervously in his ear about meeting his parents and how beautiful his speech was.

"Stop," he pecked her on the lips and pulled back. "Stop rambling. They're going to love you, Kayla. And have I told you that you look phenomenal tonight?" he kissed her again. "Because of really baby, you do. But just out of curiousity, how many glasses of wine have you had?"

"Oh," Kayla said quietly. "Only a few."

Dakota snorted behind her, "yeah and I've only had a FEW glasses of fire-whiskey."

"Oh wonderful, you're both drunk," Percy nodded. At least they were enjoying themselves. Maybe he needed a drink too.

"I'm not drunk," the two girls said at the same time, giggling right after.

"Just buzzed," Kayla added.

"And high perhaps?" Percy leaned down and looked into Kayla's eyes.

"No! Never!" Kayla exclaimed.

"She was nervous," Dakota confirmed.

Percy's head snapped in her direction; Kayla knew how he felt about that, and it wasn't good.

"Don't look at me," Dakota said defensively. "I picked her up from Marabella's room, and she was just like that. Better that than, well." She shrugged, suggesting that Kayla had been on the verge of a panic attack.

Percy sighed and gave Kayla another hug, whispering in her ear again that his parents were going to love her.

When he pulled back again, he saw that Dakota was picking at her black nails. They started walking toward his family's table, and Kayla was walking beside him nervously. He told her to relax again and put his arm around her.

Once they got to the Percy turned toward his mother, who pulled him down into a bear hug and started sobbing in his ear.

After he calmed his mother and introduced both of his parents to Kayla, he turned to Dakota to introduce her but found that a man had interrupted her.

The man tried to introduce himself as she took her coat off, his eyes skimming over her bare shoulder as she placed it on the back of one of the chairs, but she gave him a "no-thank you" along with an annoyed look and turned away.

"Stop doing that, or you'll be single forever," Percy teased and took a sip from his sister's water-glass.

"Stop saying that to her, or you'll be single forever," Kayla said with a nervous smile.

Dakota smirked and turned toward her friend with a wink.

"Mom, dad," Percy waved his hand to Dakota as he handed her the water-glass, earning an annoyed look from Ginny. "This is my best friend Dakota. Dakota, these are my parents, Molly and Arthur."

"It's wonderful to finally meet you," Dakota said, her voice like honey as she shook their hands.

"So, this is the girlfriend?" George said as he pushed through his family and put his arm around Dakota with a grin. "Gotta say, she isn't really your type, is she? She's more Charlies type, don'tcha thing Char?"

Charlie pushed up from beside him and stopped when he saw Dakota, his eyes widening for a moment as he looked her up and down, his gaze stopping momentarily on his way back up on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed curiously for a second, then he shook his head and cleared his throat.

Before Charlie could speak, Dakota pushed George off her shoulder and motioned toward Kayla.

"That's the girlfriend, who is most-definitely his type," she smirked mischievously. "I would know; I'm a distant relative of cupid, so my matchmaking skills are phenomenal."

Charlie stood straight with his arms folded as he observed her, and Percy could tell instantly that his older brother was thinking that George was right; Dakota was definitely Charlie's type.

"Cupid? Are you really?" Ron walked up behind Percy and stopped, his eyes widening and mouth falling open the same way it did every time he'd see Fleur, and lately Hermione.

George grinned when Percy pushed him away. Kayla giggled when Harry tapped Ron on the back of the head. He was amazed that she was doing so well, crowds like this usually overwhelmed her. And he knew she'd only be able to handle her family to a certain extent.

No, you idiot," Percy said.

"But she is related to Newt Scamander," Kayla chimed in quietly- though, she was always soft-spoken. "Well, actually Tina Scamander. Cousins, on her muggle side. I think?"

Percy watched as Charlie raised an eyebrow. Newt Scamander had been among one of Charlie's heroes growing up.

"If we're done talking about me," Dakota said and turned around to look over the crowd. "I need another drink. And I need to talk to Theodore about us staying at his house tonight."

"Us?" Percy pondered, his voice sharp.

"She means me," Kayla told him. "Doesn't want to go back to Diagon Alley; she thinks it's bad luck to travel by Floo past midnight."

"It is bad luck," Dakota said, her eyes brightening when she found Theodore in the crowd.

"You know, Kota, you are probably the smartest person I've ever met, and the most superstitious. Generally, they both don't go hand in hand." Percy told her, then turned to his girlfriend. "Also, I don't like Theodore, neither of you is staying there."

"Why? He doesn't want to sleep with me, he wants to sleep with her!" Kayla protested.

Dakota turned and shot her a mock glare, ignoring George's chuckle as he propped himself up by putting an elbow on her shoulder. Percy expected her to shove him off, but surprisingly she allowed it.

"We'll get back to how you know that, later," Percy told Kayla. "And that doesn't help your case in the slightest. If anything, it makes things worse because that would just end in her beating the living crap out of the poor guy when he made the wrong move. Let me ask mom if you can stay with us. There's plenty of room for you to stay the weekend."

Dakota scowled at him and pulled away from George, grabbing the chair away from the table, turning it so she could lean on it as they spoke.

In the process, Percy knew that George, Ron, Harry, and most importantly Charlie, had all gotten a good look at her tattoo. All of them reacted with curiosity, as most people did, but the look on Charlie's face was the most curious. Charlie pulled back quickly when she turned back around, making Percy realize that he'd been leaning in to get a better look.

"Your tattoo is, a dragon?"

Percy turned to see that it was Harry who had spoken first. He thought back to the Triwizard Tournament.

"It's not a dragon," Dakota's voice was soft, though she looked excited to explain herself, she scowled when she heard Charlie's condescending tone.

"It's not a dragon," Charlie said at the same time with a raised an eyebrow.

"They're similar to dragons. It's a horned serpent," Dakota ignored Charlie and looked back to Harry. "The smartest magical creature known to mankind."

Charlie snorted, "No they aren't."

"Excuse me?" Dakota snapped her gaze back to him, her bright green eyes shining.

Percy ran his hand through his hair. He had been hoping to avoid this topic for the evening. Once Dakota got going, there was no stopping her. She could talk about Horned Serpents and any other XXXXX-categorized creatures for hours on end, including dragons, which Charlie never shut up about. After a year working with the Department of Magical Creatures, he was over it. The problem was, however, that Dakota took comments about some creatures, specifically horned serpents, much more personally than others.

"They are impossible to train or domesticate," Charlie explained knowingly. "And they are believed to be extinct."

"Are you joking me? Millions have said the same thing about dragons, yet there are now three fully-functioning sanctuaries throughout the world, all with trained dragons that were believed to be extinct less than a hundred years ago!" Dakota countered. "Horned serpents aren't extinct."

"Oh really? Please, tell me more about dragons. It's not like I have a career as a dragon tamer or anything." Charlie leaned forward and glared into her eyes. His jaw was popped, but Percy could tell he was enjoying himself. He wondered if anyone else there could tell; Dakota sure didn't know him well enough to.

"Dragon tamer?" Dakota pulled back, the scowl disappearing as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why didn't you tell me your brother was a dragon tamer?" She asked Percy. "Which one are you, again?"

"Charlie," Percy answered for him. "He works in Romania with Bethany. And because I knew you wouldn't shut up about it once you found out."

Kayla giggled beside him, so he put his arm around her with a sigh, exhaustion hitting him full force.

"Charlie? I thought he was supposed to be the hot one?" Dakota countered and tilted her head. The mischievous smirk had appeared on her face again.

"Excuse me?" Charlie leaned his head forward again, his eyebrows scrunched.

"I never said anything of the sort," Percy exclaimed.

"I know, but your reaction is hilarious," Dakota countered and sauntered off.

Percy couldn't help but watch Charlie as he stared after her. Maybe inviting the two of them to stay for the weekend had been a bad idea.

..

..

An hour later and Percy was waiting by the portkey while his father wrangled up their crazy family.

"The only reason I'm not arguing right now is that your exhausted and I'm nearly drunk," Dakota pointed a finger at him. Her leather jacket was thrown over one shoulder, and she had her jet-black-heels in one hand.

"And don't tell me what to do. Did you even hear them tell you about your promotion? Working for the Department of Magical Transportation now. You aren't even my boss anymore. Also, what department have you not worked in?" Dakota leaned toward him and put her hands on her hip. "And, Kayla's upset because you've been paying more attention to me than her the past few days. Leave me alone and address that."

"Oh, bloody hell," Percy said; he would never understand woman.

"You know, I'll never understand the whole 'bloody hell thing,' Dakota looked off to nowhere. "It's so much more entertaining to say; 'goddammit,' or 'for fuck's sake,' or-," Percy cut her off.

"My mother can hear you," he hissed at her.

She stuck her tongue at him.

"So?" Dakota said, her voice genuinely questioning his statement. "My other topic choice is your hot-ass brother, you sure you want her to overhear what I've got to say about that because I doubt it?"

"Stop talking," he hissed. "This is exactly why you aren't allowed to have fire-whiskey, you know," Percy told her, looking behind her shoulder to see that Kayla was walking toward them with Ginny. It made him smile to see that they were both laughing.

"Oh bullshit, no one can hear me, you're just paranoid," Dakota folded her arms again and turned toward the portkey.

"Oh yeah? Because my 'hot-ass brother," Percy whispered and held his hands up, making quotation marks with his hands, "is standing only a few feet away from you with a shit-eating grin on his face that says otherwise."

Percy laughed when Dakota stood straight and cleared her throat, face turning red.

"There you are!" Kayla chirped and all but jumped into Percy's arms. He kissed her on the cheek and lead her toward the portkey.

"She's the one that needs to be cut off," Dakota said bitterly, her voice quiet so only the three of them could hear. Or at least she probably thought only the three of them could hear. "Three glasses of firewhiskey and I'm being judged, three bottles of wine and whatever the hell else she did, and it's no big deal? This is discrimination."

Three bottles? Kayla was far too small to hold that much alcohol. How did these two do it? Was it an American thing?

"Nope," Percy explained and shook his head. "She's cut off too. Both of you are going to be sober for the rest of the weekend."

"Boo," the two of them teased and put their hand on the portkey, a long stick that his father had called a hockey-stick.

Percy sighed and placed his hand on it as well, smiling as the rest of his family did as well. His mother had told him that both Ginny and Harry and Bill and Fleur had another portkey back to their house, but that they were coming over tomorrow.

This was going to be an interesting weekend.