He very rarely ventured into muggle London
A/N: Sorry it's been such a long time! School took over my life, and though I've been writing, none of my fic felt ready to share with the rest of you….I finally got this one somewhere I liked it, so, here it is.
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Percy very rarely ventured into muggle London. Almost anything he needed he was able to buy in Diagon Alley, and it wasn't part of his nature to seek out muggle culture, like some other wizards did on occasion. Percy walked unenchanted streets now in an effort to clear his head—too much was happening at the ministry; too much that had implications that were far too far reaching for Percy to think over sitting at his desk or even pacing the floor of his flat.
He liked Rufus Scrimgeour, but he had some trouble believing what he said when he spoke to Percy about certain topics. About reconciling with his family, for one. A few years ago he might have believed the minister's fluff about wanting Percy to be content, but today, with everything that was going on, the ministry wanted to keep tabs on Potter and the Order even more than they did in the past. It had, Percy would concede now, been largely due to his family that he gained the position as Junior Assistant to the Minster of Magic. He did not intend to let his familial ties bolster his career any more, particularly when he was slowly convincing himself that the ministry was going about this fight all wrong.
He pulled the light dress coat he sported tighter around his collar as he walked down the street. Percy thought furiously for a moment about how he should have worn a scarf—and then thought furiously again about how the flimsy scarves in the dresser in his flat failed to keep the wind out as well as the monstrosities his mother used to knit him. Even the muggles on the street around him were more sensibly dressed for the nippy fall air around them. Their coats were designed for the cold, as were the hats, gloves, and scarves. He caught sight striped scarf exiting a coffee shop that had him thinking he had run into a Slytherin student, but it was just the similarity in scarf color.
People had already begun their Christmas shopping, a bit early, in his opinion, and Percy was now walking in the thick of them. What a mess I've made of my life, he thought to himself bitterly for a moment as he watched a mother shoo two young sons away from the front of a toy shop. I don't even have Christmas shopping to do. All I have to look forward to is a day not sitting at my desk. Percy very much enjoyed his desk. But he used to enjoy it more knowing that the work he did at it was rewarding to the people he cared about as well as to himself. His thoughts floated from the policies awaiting signature in his inbox to friends he never talked to anymore to Penelope.
Penelope.
Truth was, Percy thought about her often, far more often than he would want to admit. He heard a band play down the street from his flat, a few nights previous, and one of their songs made Percy feel as though he was likely not the only person on the planet that regretted letting a love go. The recollection of the melody tugged at his heart, causing a pulling sensation deep in his chest. I miss her, he acknowledged to himself, sighing heavily as he rounded a corner.
He nearly ran into the woman before he saw her, pausing briefly to hand her a package she dropped avoiding his oblivious steps and to mumble a brief apology for his carelessness. The glare with which she fixed him reminded him of how Penny looked at him the night she had finally walked out. Percy swallowed, and continued on his way, head down. His mind wanted to dwell on that night in his flat, but Percy forced it to more enjoyable things. It hurt to think of her, yes, but on days like today, it hurt more not to think of her.So he relived walks around the lake, late nights in the library, her musical laugh filling up a room and brightening everyone in it. He could almost hear it, as he walked down the sidewalk, the bright sound of joy bubbling from her lips. Percy smiled to himself, trying to hold onto the tone for a moment longer, before the memory faded, as he knew it would.
But the sound carried on, rich and wonderful, for far longer than it should have. Percy wasn't merely thinking of Penny's laugh, he realized with a start, he was hearing it. His head snapped to attention as he scoured the streets around him.
It took him scarcely a second to find her, her back turned to him outside a jewelry store nearly a block away. Her hair was only brushing her shoulders, as if she had recently cut it and decided it didn't suit her. It was something Penelope would do, make a drastic change and then immediately want it back to the way it was before. Percy looked for the source of her laughter, and found another familiar, hulking form striding up beside her and clapping her on the shoulder.
Oliver.
It was an interesting feeling, Percy noted to himself, to see the one person on the planet he could see himself growing old with palling around downtown stores with a man who only a few years ago had been his best friend. Of course, Oliver was always too attractive for his own good, and Penelope had always been quite friendly with the keeper, and Percy did suppose that working for the same club—they had both gone to Puddlemere just after graduation, Penny as an administrator and Oliver as a player—left them in the perfect environment for something like this to occur. It didn't change the reaction Percy's body was having right now—the ripping sensation has reappeared in his chest, accompanied by a burning ball in his stomach.
Penelope leaned down and pointed through the window of the shop, speaking to Oliver in a low voice, and he nodded enthusiastically as the wandered inside. Percy couldn't help moving up the street to see them better, this odd fusion of pieces of his old life—his happy life.
They were talking to a sales person when Percy got them back into his line of view. Shopping for jewelry, Percy puzzled to himself as the sales woman reached under the counter. It hit Percy like a ton of bricks as she drew back up the display rack—Shopping for engagement rings. He felt as if he had just been hit in the stomach, but he couldn't bring himself to look away.
Penny pointed out a ring and started talking to Oliver animatedly, her excitement showing in every feature on her face. Before his eyes, Oliver picked the ring up and slid it onto the finger a wedding band would one day sit. Percy watched as Penelope nearly jumped up in down in excitement, and turned away in disgust as Oliver nodded and passed a few large muggle bills to the sales clerk.
He sank against the cobblestone of the building and closed his eyes. His best friend and his girlfriend were getting married. Well, his ex best friend and his ex girlfriend, to be fair. It had been well over a year since he had spoken to either one of them. His head was still spinning when he heard the door of the shop jangle open. Penny and Oliver turned to go the other way, and Percy could hear the peal of her laugh once again. He forced himself to open his eyes.
"It's absolutely perfect, Ol," she told Oliver, leaning into his shoulder. "I'm glad you had me come along to pick it out."
Oliver obligingly slung his arm around her shoulder. Hugging her tightly to him. "So am I, Pen." He leaned down the small space between their heights and kissed her gingerly on the cheek. "You're my angel."
Percy turned away and hurried down the street away from this scene, his breath ragged and blood pounding in his ears. He had no claim on Penny, he knew that, but some part of his heart broke in a specific way knowing she was going to find happiness apart from him—he wasn't sure he could do so without her. And Oliver--a very lucky man, he thought rationally, but he couldn't see a reconciliation anywhere in the future for their friendship. Even though Percy did sometimes miss Oliver terribly, there was no way he could be around him if he had the possession of Penelope's heart.
It was a severing. There was nothing left of his old life to cling to the hope of. Percy needed to take the initiative and decide where he stood, today. He didn't want to stand with Scrimgeour just to side with the ministry, and he certainly didn't want to side with his family when they were skirting the law in unnecessary ways. But he had to start standing for something. He had to start standing for himself, if nothing else. If the ministry was going down the tube, he was going to do everything in his power not to go down with it. He owed that, at least, to all of the people he had so greatly disappointed in his life—to his parents, his siblings, his friends…and to Penny.
Percy walked swiftly the many blocks back towards his flat. Now that he knew how he felt, he had better get used to actually acting it.