~A/N~ Hi! Here's chapter two! You're meeting my version of Audrey! Please tell me what you think!

Audrey Thress had lived on her own for over three years and had never had any trouble in the tidy, five story apartment tucked away on a quaint side alley of London. She'd tried to keep to herself the way her father had ordered her to, but she had never managed to suppress her wide, easy smile or her natural inclination to greet her neighbors with cheer every time their paths crossed. She recognized faces, knew names, and was content that way.

She never had worries about being too-friendly with her neighbors and knocked on doors to ask for sugar or offer extra food with an endearing frequency. When a rushed and harried mother had voiced her dismay at a babysitter that had fallen through six months after Audrey had moved in, Audrey had offered her services for as long as they were needed. Free of charge. Within a few weeks, children were often dropping in on her, obediently repeating their mothers' "If he's any trouble at all…" before diving into whatever Audrey had set out that day.

Audrey adored children and wouldn't ever dream of using them in any way, but they had helped her out of more than a few uncomfortable situations. It had taken the entire building several months to warm to Audrey's petite, uncommonly energetic frame and her unparalleled beauty. Her perfect rosebud lips were rarely found at rest. She was always smiling or chattering or eating or singing or humming in the most charming of ways. Her grey eyes practically shone with her good nature, though all the enamored men in the building always forgot that her dainty brow furrowed in confusion at any serious topic, like politics or philosophy, and she came home more days than not quite a few pounds poorer because she'd run across a 'poor soul' whose children always seemed to be starving on the next corner.

Audrey had often thanked her lucky stars for the children racing around her apartment, especially when a man came knocking on her door, intent upon taking her out. She'd beam graciously and invite them in, accepting their flowers, or chocolate, or stuffed animals, or, in one shocking case, a live kitten, with a demure nod of her head- Unless she was handed a live animal. Honestly, how was she supposed to keep her surprise hidden when a large brute of a man was forcing a squirming kitten into her arms?- and a polite invitation into her living room. The children- bouncing on furniture, squabbling good-naturedly, and just generally being a nuisance- tended to chase whoever visited her out quickly.

So, when Audrey had left her flat to dash down the stairs to clean some laundry in the basement, she certainly hadn't expected to encounter a long, gangly man with copper curls, his wire rimmed glasses slipping precariously down his nose, swearing to Godric about his rather overlarge armchair on the stair landing just outside her apartment.

Percy was miserable.

He'd moved out of George's apartment a couple of months after his brother had started dating Angelina. Percy had been relieved that Angelina managed to balance George out better than he could, but Percy had tumbled out of their spare room to see Angelina dressed in only a rumpled white button down in the kitchen one too many times.

More correctly, he had tumbled out of his room to see George undressing Angelina one too many times. The last time it had happened, the day before he moved out, actually, he had slapped his hand over his glasses, rather pointlessly covering his tightly closed eyes and spun around. He'd managed to spew out several apologies before smacking into the wall, slipping backwards, and cracking his head quite spectacularly against the coffee table.

Because Percy had chosen to take a peculiarly obscure job- a self-employed frivolous spell maker- he had no Wizarding money. And when Molly had gotten wind of Percy's homeless state, he didn't have a chance.

He was living at home.

Oh, Charlie was there, too. There had been a dragon mishap in Romania and many of the Muggles had seen a dragon. Charlie had managed to capture it and convince the Muggles it was just an overlarge escaped pet snake, but he had achieved fame in many of the European countries and had had to go to England to avoid the massive onslaught of press from snapping an accidental picture of a dragon while they waited to interview him. Charlie didn't particularly relish finding a flat, or a job, for that matter, in Britain, so had taken his old room back for a while.

That's part of why Percy was so miserable. The press had done huge spreads on Charlie and his 'heroics', but they had quickly found that there wasn't enough dirt on him to exploit. But he did have a large family.

Percy hadn't even rated an honorable mention. He worked in the Muggle world every day, and not a single girl had ever pointed at him with hysterical joy because she'd 'spotted a Weasley.' But every single time one of his brothers stuck a toe in the Muggle world, it was in the paper. He'd overheard more than one girl telling her friends that Percy was just a Weasley wannabe. His boss, an overweight balding man in his late forties, had heard it and thus Percy's nickname came to be.

Percy loved his family. He really did. He would do anything for them. If he hadn't in the past… Well, he'd certainly learned his lesson: If you don't take advantage of your time with your family, you might have to watch them die minutes after you finally make up with them.

Regardless of his love, the rest of the Weasleys were driving him spare. Dad would ask for help degnoming the garden and just as Percy was following him out the kitchen door, Charlie would slap Percy on the back and say, "Don't worry about it, Perce. I know you hate it," and chase Dad out the door. And even Percy, who was by far the least socially aware Wealsey, knew that degnoming was sacred one-on-one father-son time.

Mum would call for someone to carry the sugar and flour into the pantry. Percy couldn't even halfway cross the kitchen before Ron- Wasn't he halfway across the country?- popped in and hefted a fifty pound bag like they were nothing on each shoulder. At least when Bill came to emasculate him, he brought Victoire for Percy to play with. Every Saturday, Ginny came to the Burrow to make Percy French braid her hair for her and Harry's 'outing' day. But Percy always got to babysit Teddy while they were gone. George came periodically to test his new products out on Percy and laugh at him.

But the worst was their mother. Percy looked too thin, or too pale, or too tired, or too stressed, or too alone.

"What does that even mean?" Percy had vented to his sister. "She said I was too alone. If we discount all the spouses, children, fiancées, and family friends, there are still five of you hanging around. That's not including Mum or Da!"

Molly was always pushing food on Percy. Even though he preferred the light, airy kitchen, he had started working exclusively in his father's cramped, musty, disused study just for a respite from his mother's coddling.

But it wasn't too bad. He was never hungry and his family was never far away. Percy took his mother's overbearing love with the best attitude he could until she tried to set him up with a "lovely little witch from down the lane."

That was why Percy Weasley was vowing by Godric he'd get the overstuffed, worn brown suede armchair in his second floor flat or die trying in the stairwell of a Muggle apartment building when a tiny black haired Muggle girl crashed through the door.

Audrey gaped at the man in front of her. Why did he look so familiar? She shook off the question, her face pinching in confusion when the man slammed his eyes closed and sank into the chair, groaning.

She swallowed and, after a long moment- Why wasn't he greeting her?- she straightened her shoulders and raised her chin. "Hullo?" The single word wavered in between them.

His head jerked up he pinned her down with his glare. She didn't even know that color blue existed! "Yes?" He bit off the word.

She breathed deeply for a moment before smiling slightly. "Hullo. I'm Audrey. I live on this floor. Do you need any help?"

He was instantly defensive. "No, I don't need any-" He cut himself off and closed his eyes again, breathing out slowly. Keeping his eyes closed, he nodded curtly. "Help would be nice."

"Alright then. I'll take this side," She patted one arm of the chair a few times. "And you drag the top up. I'll push from behind." When he stayed where he was, her smile grew a little. "Budge up. I'm not hauling you up there, too!"

His gaze was softer this time as he studied her. A few seconds after Audrey gave up her halfhearted laughs, the corners of his mouth softened and he snickered. He stood up carefully, Audrey noted, as if he was afraid going too fast would knock his feet out from under him. He pulled two of the chair legs up on the first step, nodding to her before starting up the first half flight. When they reached the landing, the man leaned back against the wall and shoved his glasses down so he could pinch the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. While he was resting, Audrey examined his face more closely, trying to see why he was so familiar.

He cracked an eye open and jerked back when he saw her intense stare. "Um…"

She interrupted him. "Let's keep going."

The man nodded and pushed himself off the wall. "Okay."

When they were halfway to the next landing, the man spoke up. "I'm only on the second floor."

Audrey nodded, panting a little, her arms screaming. "Okay."

The man frowned with worry at her. He adjusted his hold and pulled faster. "We're almost at the top," he offered her regretfully.

She bobbed her head slightly, focused more on not dropping the chair than how fast they finished. When he reached the landing, the man dropped his half and helped her push. "Sorry, I should have just Fire ca-urmph." He coughed uncomfortably, rubbing a hand through the back of his wild curls. "I should have just rung my brothers. Pride and all that, you know?"

Audrey dragged the chair to the door before propping open the door and motioning for the man to come through with his chair. He gestured to the flat door directly on the left, searching through his pockets for a key. "This is it." He turned to her with a hesitant smile. "Than-"

"Are you Charlie Weasley?" She blurted because she'd finally figured out why he looked so familiar. His demeanor froze faster than she could anticipate it.

He glared moodily at her. "I do not like the wild."

Audrey's mouth fell open. "W-w-what are you on about?" she spluttered. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The man scowled. "I'm bloody well not Charlie."

Her eyes gleamed. "But you are a Weasley?"

He chuffed air out his nose and shoved his door open, jerking his chair inside. "Bugger off," he muttered irritably and slammed the door in her face.

Edit[1-7-14] I forgot to have Audrey throw in her name! Oops! That'll make the rest of the chapters make more sense!