A/N: This is the Chudley Cannons Captain stepping in as the Chaser 2 reserve for Round 8 of Season 6 of the QLFC.

Chaser 2 Prompt: Theme - finding out someone was not the same species as you

Additional prompts: (dialogue) "I've waited this long, yet suddenly now I'm impatient," (colour) aquamarine, and (word) forgive

Word count (before A/N): 2,900 words

I am not JK. This is her world. I merely dabble.

Rainy days were the easiest to get through. At least, that's what Percy thought as he sat up in his bed, the dingy grey covers pooling around his waist. The rain spattered against the window panes in a sporadic pattern, leaving streaks of water running zig-zag across the glass.

Lightning lit up the little flat he rented in Diagon Alley. Thunder shook the rafters, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Percy sighed, his feet swinging out of bed, his hands fumbling for his glasses on the night table.

Rainy days were easier at least, because the outside world reflected the turmoil he felt building inside as he breathed in and out. Every inhale a stinging reminder that he could breathe. That he was still living.

Every exhale a sad sigh, knowing Fred couldn't. Not ever again.

Percy opened his closet doors, searching for a decent-looking button down and a tie. He slipped a tweed vest over his head and pulled on his tan trousers. Dressing was mindless for him. When he was working under Fudge, he spent nearly an hour each morning meticulously selecting and ironing his outfit. He wanted to look presentable; he wanted to be noticed for his ability to outshine and outwork the others in the department.

But nothing seemed to matter anymore. Five months had passed since the war ended, yet Percy still felt the loss of his brother looming over his every move.

One Apparition later, Percy found himself seated at his desk in the Department of Magical Transportation, semi-reviewing a request for a private car to pick up a wealthy ambassador from South Africa once he arrived in England for a one-on-one with the interim Minister for Magic. Absentmindedly, Percy okay-ed the request, folding the piece of paper into an airplane, and sending it off for filing.

He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"You just authorized a stretch limo to take Ambassador Amahle and his pet rhinoceros directly to the Minister's house," said his desk mate, Audrey Greeves. Percy stared into her aquamarine eyes, his heart plummeting into his stomach.

"No I didn't."

"Unfortunately, I think you did," she gave him a weak smile.

Percy jumped up, his eyes darting across the room. The little airplane was in the far corner, almost out the door. He quickly jumped atop his neighbor's workstation and ran headlong toward the enchanted parchment, leaping from desk to desk. He ignored the others in his office as they yelled after him, upset he was disturbing their own stacks of transportation files. He didn't care; if that request went through, Percy would surely lose his job. After all, he already had three strikes for his carelessness in approving ridiculous requests.

The airplane did a loop before zooming out the door. Percy leapt to the floor and barreled down the hall after it, knocking into at least three unsuspecting people as he extracted his wand from his pocket. Taking careful aim, he shot a few motion-repelling charms at the paper. The last one stuck, the parchment falling back to the ground.

Panting, Percy snatched it off the floor and sheepishly made his way back to the office, his heart still racing.

When he sat back down, Audrey looked up at him, her blonde hair framing her face like a pretty picture frame. A few of the other office workers stopped, their eyes suddenly trained on the woman.

"So, got it back then?"

"Luckily," he said. "Thanks for the heads up. I don't know what I would've done."

"Not a problem, Perce. I would say I did it for you, but I had more selfish reasons."

"You did?" he felt his heart jump a little. Audrey had joined the department a few weeks after the war ended. When she started, many of the men in the office were infatuated with her. Percy understood why: She was beautiful, both conventionally and in many subtle ways. Her hair reminded him of sunshine rays dancing in the summertime. Her smile was like a beacon of radiance and could light up even the darkest depths of the lake at Hogwarts. Her blue, blue eyes sparkled in any candle light. And her body—well, Percy may have needed glasses, but he surely wasn't blind.

But Percy didn't oogle like the rest of his coworkers. In fact, he didn't much talk to Audrey until she was assigned as his desk mate two months ago. He liked having her there though. She was funny. And clever. She always smelled like a cool summer breeze, and sometimes his heart skipped a beat when she looked at him.

"I definitely don't want to lose the one person I can stand in this office," she finally answered. "If that request had gone through, I'd have a new desk mate, and I'm not all that interested in breaking them in."

Percy nodded. A part of him was only slightly disappointed her answer wasn't more… revealing. He was starting to like her as more than a coworker, and although he'd never make a move, he wondered what would happen. Alas, he was left to wonder. He returned to the request, triple checking that he denied it this time around, and sent it on its way.

"Distracted?"

Percy looked up again, surprised to find Audrey still looking at him. Her gaze made his pulse quicken.

"I, uh, I guess so."

"Pity. Know what helps me?"

He shook his head.

"Lunch."

To that, Percy nodded again and pulled his lunch bag up from the floor where he kept it. He was just about to open the lid when he heard Audrey laugh, a faint tinkling noise like wind chimes. A few of their coworkers looked over. One man, Johnson, squirmed in his seat.

"I was asking you to grab lunch with me, silly. After that daring chase, you must be hungry."

"Oh," was all Percy could manage.

"Of course, you don't have to…"

"No! Oh, sorry. I, I would like that. Sure."

Audrey stood, gesturing with her head in the direction of the office door. Percy followed suit, grabbing his rain coat and exiting the department. As they walked toward the Ministry exits, Percy couldn't help but notice as people stared after them. Two men started pushing each other out of the way to hold the door for Audrey as she stepped outside into Muggle London.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked, his eyes trained on the same two men as they pushed each other this way and that, an argument starting to break out. The rain bounced off them in little splashes, reminding Percy it was fall time.

"There's a coffee shop not too far from here that I love," Audrey said, letting the raindrops hit her skin freely. It made Percy smile, how care-free she seemed. He followed her down one alley after another until they were standing outside the place Audrey mentioned. Once inside, he sat down while she went to grab them drinks and a sandwich to share.

There were pictures of teacups and coffee mugs adorning the walls in all different colors and shapes. One was a painting of a horse carrying a saucer in his mouth, a little girl holding the teacup up for him to see. Each table had a little mug as the centerpiece, a rose standing tall from each. It smelled like coffee beans and lemon tart. Even the growing storm outside could not hinder the quirky beauty and calmness inside the shop.

Audrey sat a coffee mug in front of Percy, taking the seat opposite him.

"So I have to be honest, the coffee is shite," she smiled apologetically. "But I adore the muffins here, so I tolerate it."

Percy nodded and took a sip. The acerbic taste assaulted his tongue, a bitter and burly brew. He sat paused, the mug still to his lips, the sip sitting at the front of his mouth. He didn't want to spit it back out, but he couldn't imagine what it would feel like to let the hot liquid hit the back of his throat. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice and swallowed.

"You weren't kidding," he sat the mug down.

"I did warn you."

"Indeed you did."

Then, panic set in. What the hell was he supposed to talk about with Audrey Greeves? So what if she had sat across from him and they occasionally shared in a joke or two? He didn't know what to say to her now, away from the safety net that was their work. His social skills were abysmal when it came to beautiful women.

Luckily, the little shop's barista broke the silence, setting a turkey and cheese on rye in front of them. Audrey thanked the woman and picked up her half. She took a big bite, and smiled at Percy, clearly relaxed at the easy distraction.

Percy mimicked her, and they fell into a companionable silence, chewing their sandwich.

"This," he pointed to the food, "is a lot better than the coffee."

"Good. I was hoping I didn't scare you away from maybe doing this again sometime."

"Again?"

"If you wanted, of course."

He nodded, unable to come up with the words to express just how much he'd like to see her again like this.

Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder echoed across the sky. Percy dropped his half of the sandwich, his hand instinctively going for his wand. He could hear a faint scream in the back of his head, like the echo of the past coming to haunt him. He shut his eyes, willing the image of Fred's lifeless body to disappear. To stop haunting him. His face heated up and his breath came in spastic bursts. He could feel his heartbeat racing through his veins.

"Whoa, whoa, hey!"

Percy felt a hand on his shoulder. Slowly he opened his eyes.

"Are you alright?"

There were so many ways to answer that, of course, but Percy wasn't sure how to start. Loud noises reminded him of the walls of Hogwarts crashing down, taking the life of his little brother away from him. Yet still, Percy was living his life. He didn't know if that made him alright or not.

So when he opened his mouth, the words poured out.

"Probably not, but who is anymore after the war? I mean, it's all my fault my brother is dead, but I'm not really allowed to just let that run my life, or at least that's what my mum says. I'm supposed to carry on, as if living my best life would mean something to Fred—my dead brother, mind you—who has no idea what my best life is because he's not here.

"And sometimes I can't get out of bed in the morning, because I feel like it should have been me. Mental, I know. But that's how it is. And I can't seem to forgive myself, which is what my sister is always telling me to do. But she doesn't really get it. I stopped talking to my family, my brother, because of bloody Voldemort and then when I came back, I couldn't stop the most horrendous thing from happening."

He took a big breath, his words slowing down as he finished. "Am I alright? Probably not. Loud noises remind me of the way he died. I think about him lying there every day. Every time I take in a breath, I'm reminded that he can't. It's, well, it's…"

Audrey was staring at him, her expression unreadable. Percy, realizing just how much he said, turned bright red, rivalling his cherry-colored locks. Boy did he blow it.

"I suppose you are rethinking about doing this again," he mumbled, taking a sip of his coffee to wet his drying throat. But that was a mistake; he spit it back into the mug, a bit of the black liquid running down his chin.

Audrey leaned across the table and wiped the dribble away with her thumb. Her touch was soothing, her palm soft as she gently cradled his cheek in her hand.

"Percy, do you know what I am?" she asked.

It threw him. Had she heard him at all? He didn't know how to respond to that kind of question, and so he chose not to speak at all.

Audrey pulled her arm back, resting it in her lap. Her aquamarine eyes were set on him, like she was staring at the very core of his being. He shifted under her gaze.

"I'm Veela, Perce. You haven't noticed?"

"Uh, no?"

"That is why I do want to do this again. Because you've always seen just me. You haven't been intimidated or infatuated by something I can't control."

"But, what I just said—"

"You have a lot going on. I've known that since I met you. Maybe that's why you didn't notice the way all the men in the office stare. And grope. And drool." She rolled her eyes.

"But, I have noticed," Percy said. "I just—I didn't realize."

"I know," she smiled.

"Do you really want to do this again? You're not just being nice? Because I'm sure any sensible woman would steer clear of a man rapt with as much guilt as I feel."

"Of course I do, Percy. I like you. Like today, with the rhino request—the way you leapt to your feet to remedy your mistake, I admire that. And I think you're funny. And cute. And you treat me like a person and not just an object, like everyone else." Audrey smiled before continuing, "The funny thing is, I waited this long, yet suddenly now I'm impatient. I don't want to wait anymore. I want to see where this could go."

"But—"

"Perce, I get it. My heart breaks for your loss. I wish I could say and do the right thing to help make things right, but I know I can't. What I can do is remind you that, yes, you are living. And your mum is right; you can't let guilt get in the way of that."

"Audrey," but he didn't know what else to say.

"My mother died, too. We didn't fight, and I still lost her. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I did fight. Had I learned how to protect us from the Death Eaters, would she still be here? Who's to say?"

"That's not your fault."

"And it's not yours either."

For a minute, they could only stare at one another. Audrey picked up her sandwich and started eating again, which helped Percy to try as well. When they finished, Audrey stood to leave, but Percy grabbed her wrist. When he touched her, a jolt of electricity ran through his fingertips and straight to his chest. Merlin, was she gorgeous.

"Muffin," he said. "You said you liked them… let's stay and maybe talk this time around."

"Sure. I'd like that."

Percy returned to the table after getting two blueberry muffins from the counter. Audrey gently took his hand in hers while they sat there, the conversation flowing a bit easier than before.

"Do you always feel guilty?" she asked.

"Not as much as I used to. I mean, some days are better than others, but like I said. I have trouble forgiving myself. My family has, or at least they say they have. I really wouldn't blame them if they were lying; I was a major prat."

"I'm sure they aren't lying."

"I can only hope," he laughed. "So… a Veela?"

"Mhmm. I, honestly, am shocked you didn't know."

"I hope you're not insulted."

"Oh! No," she laughed. "It's just—do you not remember my first few weeks at the department?"

"Honestly, no. We'd just buried Fred and I was not in a good place."

"That makes perfect sense," she sipped at her now cold coffee, making a face as she swallowed.

"So… what happened?"

"Johnson tried to kiss me during our weekly meeting for one. Amos and Derek had a duel in the break room, and Calvin broke four teacups after I told him I preferred coffee. All on day one."

"How did I miss that?"

"Beats me, Perce. But when I sat down next to you, all you did was say hello. You offered me a quill when I couldn't find mine, but you didn't shove it in my face or act like my hero. You almost seemed reluctant to lend it out," Audrey laughed.

"That," he went to sip his coffee again, but thought better of it, "sounds like me."

As they walked back to the Ministry, Percy watched passers-by stare at Audrey from under their umbrellas. He looked at her, too, but he knew there was more to her than what was shown on the outside. He felt almost proud he could see past the Veela magic, though now that he knew about it, he could feel it emanating off of her in little pulses. It was a wonder he missed it before.

"I meant what I said, Perce," Audrey finally said while they stood outside the secret entrance. "I'd really like to do this again."

"Me—me too."

Audrey stood on her tip toes, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, causing his whole body to tingle with warmth despite the cool fall rain. But, after all, Percy knew rainy days were better for him.