Sugar Packets and Sticky Situations

Apologies were not the sort of thing Percy was used to voicing. Even during the recent events with his family, Percy was much more of a doer than a talker when it came to that sort of thing. In the Room Of Requirement he had nothing at all prepared to say to his family when he saw them. When Aberforth informed him that the battle was happening Percy rushed off without a thought, and when he bridged the divide from the stony corridor he was shocked to find himself confronted with the freckled faces of his family. His initial reaction was to yell out what he had been feeling for months, years really when he thought about it, and Fred and the rest of his family finished the rest. Since then Percy had been responding for his failings personally and physically, making up to his family in ways he knew were meaningful to them. He was a firm believer in actions speaking louder than words, and he knew with his family he had a lifetime of penance to make him feel like he could correct himself.

Audrey however was a different situation entirely. Words needed to be said, and though what he had done to her was not even comparable to what he had done to his family, he felt his apology should be no less genuine. The real problem was that he had never made this kind of act for forgiveness before. When he said sorry to his bosses for a problem at work it was mostly to save his job. And as for friends… well, he never felt any of his actions admitted fault before. Perhaps that's why his friend base was so scarce.

Now however, in accordance to Percy's new leaf, he had to prod around the sensitive areas of his mind to see just how he should handle the situation. All he knew about Audrey is that she liked to talk, did her job well when given the chance, and was very accurate in her portrayals. And she seemed to have an over fondness for ducks. None of this seemed particularly helpful as personal things were not a subject he was prepared to talk about, and he doubted he could find a duck at this hour. None the less, Percy had been staring at the etching of the office door for a good quarter of an hour, knowing Audrey sat on the other side. Taking a deep breath after deciding to simply "wing it", Percy opened the door, bracing himself for who knows what.

Instead of laying slumped on the overstuffed chair she had stolen from the break room as he had grown accustomed to, Percy found Audrey with her back turned to him, laying out folders and boxes on the long table that ran the length of his office wall. She tensed visibly when she realized he had finally come to work. Her body pivoted on the spot slowly, her eyes wide and lip slightly indented from the tight bite she had given it before. Though Percy had only worked with her a few days, he noticed that her attire was much more muted than normal, in attempt to appear professional. Exhaling, Percy stared working up the nerve to speak, when Audrey jumped and beat him to it.

"Coffee!" she yelled. Percy widened his eyes and shook his head in confusion. Audrey dashed by him quickly and snatched his coffee cup from the table. She peered into it momentarily before sheepishly handing it to him.

"I meant to have this ready for you when you got here. I mean, obviously it was ready but, you know, have it to hand to you and everything." She spoke very quickly, more so than usual. When Percy failed to reply back, she dove into another string of one-sided conversation.

"It's made just the way you like it! Strong, black and two sugars."

"How did you know that's how I drank my coffee?" Percy asked rather abruptly. These were not the first words he meant to give to her, but his curiosity momentarily derailed him from his mission.

"You have dark rings around your eyes," she replied, as though this was adequate enough information. When Percy seemed to fail following her train of logic, she smiled a bit as though she was letting a slower friend in on a joke.

"Your eyes are dark and a bit puffy. You are normally the first person here in the morning and you can stay here very late into the night. That indicated your lack of sleep and a need for it to be strong. You refill your cup three times a day, but never add any milk. Though you throw your sugar packets in the rubbish, you leave the torn tops on the right hand side of your desk by your pen, and by the time I get up to leave there are always six pieces. So I did the reasoning and well, it's your drink."

Percy stared at her in wonder. When describing his new assistant to his dad he had to look at his paper work to recall her last name, and here she had already watched him enough to know how he took his coffee.

"I-I- can't…" Audrey cut off Percy's unintelligent sputters by darting in front of him to showcase her table.

"I also laid out the files you said needed to be revisited and requested access to the storage compartment that contains the contraband we needed to sort through. That is if you still want me as your assistant." She paused to look at him pleadingly, biting her lip once again. Guilt encompassed Percy, but while he tried to gather his sentiments from the previous afternoon, she once again pulled him away from his thoughts.

"I mean, I am still working here, aren't I? I checked on the staff lists this morning when I got here, and I knew if you wanted to fire me you would have done so yesterday or at least early this morning but I know they don't always update right away so I wasn't sure and gee whiz you have no idea how much I need not to get fired Percy… Mr. Weasley."

"Percy!" he said quickly but kindly, cutting her off from any further chance she may talk again. This time, Audrey was the one who seemed lost for words and looked at her boss with a slight hope.

"Percy is fine," he granted, grateful for some leeway. "I don't seem to be much older than you, and you seem to be more comfortable with Percy anyhow."

"It is what I am used to calling you," she replied with a large sense of relief. Percy raised his eyebrows and once again strayed from his apology with another question.

"Er, do we know each other?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, well, at least I know you. Or of you. I mean, you were head boy and I was a Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw? But I was in Gryffindor," he stated profoundly.

"Yeah, but Penelope wasn't. She was my prefect and…" Audrey stopped as she watched Percy face and neck begin to redden. She quickly jumped into action to try and rectify the situation.

"Not that she talked about you! Or hid you either. It... it's just that it was common knowledge and I may have overheard a thing or two about your relationship in the common room, but… Oh!" She stomped her foot as she cried out and quickly sat on the small fold up chair by the table. "Gee whiz this is not at all how I meant this morning to go. I had the whole scenario worked out in my head. I practiced it all night last night on my cat, and she seemed very receptive so I thought I'd be okay. But it's just when I get nervous I can't help but spewing word vomit over the whole situation and…"

"It's okay!" Percy interrupted. He crouched by her side and looked at her earnestly. Audrey popped her lip out of her mouth and gave another meek and sheepish smile.

"At least you had something prepared. I came in here not knowing what to say," he admitted. Instead of bursting in to rapid speech in the way Percy had quickly become accustomed to, Audrey nodded and encouraged him to proceed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did, frightened you, or scattered those papers. It was uncalled for, over the line and completely unprofessional."

"So was my drawing," Audrey conceded.

"Not quite," Percy responded a bit glibly. "I was fairly wretched towards you, and for no reason at that. I seemed to have built a mountain of offenses around you, and your sketching was the last straw instead of the first. I came to terms that it was deserved and quite an accurate description of my countenance. Though I am very sure I did at least allow bathroom breaks."

Audrey released a soft chuckle at his small joke and broke out into a big side smile. Raising to her feet and tucking a dark lock which had escaped her headband behind her ear, she turned to face him. Percy also took to standing position, already feeling a bit lighter.

"It seems as though we got off on the wrong foot. Why not start again?" she asked earnestly. She stood back a step and out stretched an enthusiastic arm. "Hi! I'm Audrey, Audrey Larrabee! Gee whiz you look familiar…"

Audrey craned her neck forward a bit as she squinted her eyes. Percy let out a quick laugh and grabbed her hand in return.

"I would assume so. You almost knocked me into the lake the other morning."

"Oh that was you then? Well, I'm sure you know that when being chased by mallards it is every witch for herself. I would have apologized had I known, but you were mostly a red blur." She grinned cheekily, and Percy allotted another laugh.

"Well, that's quite alright then. Though I have yet to be chased by such creatures, I can certainly form some empathy for those who have." They finished the conversation with Audrey's beaming smile.

"Alright," Percy said, giving a clap and returning his attention to the mountain of paper work that laid out on the table. "Shall we get back to work?"