Title: For Propriety's Sake

Chapter Word Count: 2,058

Rating: M (FFN)/E (AO3)

Warning(s): Rape, Slash, MPreg, Angst, Romance

Disclaimer: I own nothing …


Chapter 07

It was long past dark when the front door to the Adder's Fork Motel opened. There had been no accommodations available at the Leaky Cauldron that night, so they'd walked from the Cauldron all the way to halfway down Knockturn Alley to the nearest cheap lodging and were both shivering when they finally entered the Adder's Fork lobby. The snow on the ground had been past their ankles and more large flakes were falling heavily around them – the warming charms hadn't managed to hold back the chill from the wind for very long.

The desk clerk barely glanced up from her magazine when they approached. "How long, then?"

"How much?" Marcus asked, shaking off his cloak. Percy self-consciously kept his wrapped around him.

"Single or double?"

"Excuse me?" Marcus looked puzzled.

She looked up from her copy of Witch Weekly. "Will you be needing one bed or two?"

"Oh." He spared a glance at Percy, who shrugged. "Er, single will be fine."

"That's 14 galleons a night," she replied immediately, returning to her magazine. [11]

"How much per week?"

"Weekly rate is 80 per."

"We'll book a week, for now," he replied, pulling out his money pouch and paying for the week while she took his information. He'd need to stop by Gringotts sometime soon but he had enough on him for them to be able to eat for a couple days. They were going to have to discuss their collective finances.

They settled quickly into the room, ignoring the shabby state of the furniture, and practically collapsed into bed. They lay beside each other, not touching. They'd lain down, curled around each other, several times over the past months but… it was suddenly weird. After a long, uncomfortable silence and some tossing and turning and shivering in the cold room (warming charms only doing so much) they finally turned to each other and spoke for the first time since they'd spoken marriage vows.

"Look, I-" Marcus started at the same time Percy said "I'm sorry-"

They both stopped and chuckled.

"We're being silly, aren't we?" Percy asked, looking at Marcus' face in the dim light that reflected off the snow and glowed through the thin curtains.

"Probably," Marcus agreed. "C'mere," he said as he pulled Percy's shivering body close to his, back flush to his chest. Percy sighed and relaxed into the embrace. Marcus was beginning to drift asleep when Percy gasped. "What?" he partially bolted up, startled.

"I…" Percy managed.

"Perce?" He was met with silence. "Percy."

Percy maneuvered onto his back. "I felt something."

"What do you mean? Felt what? Where?"

Percy took a deep breath and grabbed Marcus' hand. "Here," he said as he placed the hand over his stomach. "It was so soft I almost missed it," Percy explained softly. "It was like… I don't know. Like, bubbles I guess."

Marcus watched as a look of wonder played on his new husband's face, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He stroked his thumb over the mound beneath his hand and closed his eyes. His eyes snapped open again. "What was that?"

"Hmm?"

"I could swear I felt…" Marcus frowned in thought.

"Felt what?" Percy turned half lidded eyes towards him.

"Something… warm and… sort of tingly," he tried to describe the odd feeling. He closed his eyes again and focused on the odd feeling. He sat up and moved closer to Percy's stomach, staring at it in amazement. "It's… it's coming from you. From right here," he covered the small mound that housed their child with both his hands and closed his eyes again.

Percy closed his eyes and focused inward. He gasped. "Oh my… it's the baby!" He half sat up. "It's, it's the baby's magic!"

They stared into each other's eyes, identical emotions mirrored in each.

"I can feel it," Marcus breathed, amazed at the feeling he realized was emanating from their child. "Hecate's Blessing is already strong with this one." [12] He leaned down and kissed the large bump.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, relishing in the warmth emanating from their child in the cold night.

-o0o-

Marcus was yanked from his sleep. He looked around, confused at what woke him until he felt something hit his chest. Hard.

"N-no! Please!" His bedpartner's voice sounded desperate.

"Percy?"

"Eleos please! Stop!"

"Percy!" Marcus grabbed one of Percy's flailing arms. "Percy wake up!"

Percy shouted and yanked his arm away, bolting up into a seated positon. He gasped and looked around, eyes wide in terror.

"Percy?" Marcus tried again. Percy flinched and shied away from him. His chest constricted. "Perce?"

Percy blinked and swallowed. "M-Marcus?" he whispered.

"Yeah, it's me," Marcus replied, not sure what to do. "I'm right here."

"Marcus." Percy suddenly threw himself into the older man's arms. "Marcus."

Marcus held the shaking body and lay down, rubbing calming circles on the frightened man's back. "It's okay. You're okay. It was just a nightmare, I've got you."

"It was horrible," Percy chocked out. "There was so much pain."

Marcus pressed a kiss to Percy's head. "It's alright now, I'm right here."

"I…" Percy took a steadying breath. "I tried… I did. I tried to stop him. I swear."

"Shh," Marcus held Percy close as the man wept. "I know you did."

"I-I begged him… I begged. But he just wouldn't stop… he wouldn't stop…"

Marcus continued to hold Percy and whisper calmingly until the redhead stopped shaking and slipped back into sleep. It was still dark out and a glance at the clock next to the bed showed it was only 3 o'clock in the morning. Marcus sighed and pressed a kiss to his husband's hair before allowing himself to drift back to sleep as well.

He had a feeling this was going to become a regular occurrence.

-o0o-

The next morning they were both sitting sleepily at the tiny table in their room, a simple breakfast from a nearby café sitting between them as they discussed their financial situation. This turned out be the easiest thing they needed to consider at present.

"I've been getting an allowance of 300 galleons deposited into my personal account every month from the family account since I turned seventeen. Given that I was either living at home or at Hogwarts, I had very little expenses until I moved into Headquarters. Offhand, I'd say I have a bit over 10- to 11,000 galleons still in my vault. I'd have to go over my bank statements to be sure." Marcus paused in consideration. "The deposits will no doubt stop once my family learns of our hasty marriage. My older half-brother has always wanted to find a way to cut me off completely. This time, I think father will listen."

"I'm sorry," Percy said, ducking his head.

Marcus reached over and lifted the lowered chin to look into sad blue eyes. "It's not your fault. I volunteered to do this. I wanted to do this."

Percy offered a small smile, taking the hand under his chin and pressing it to his cheek. "Then at least allow me to thank you for that." He pressed a light kiss to the palm.

Marcus smiled gently back. "Not sure if you're the one who needs to be doing the thanking."

Percy blushed and let the hand fall without letting go. "Well, I was able to save a lot of my wages by living with my parents," he said. "I just paid a small rent and some groceries and so felt able to indulge a little when it came to buying new clothes and books. I got a raise when I was promoted to the Junior Undersecretary position."

"Could you guess approximately-?"

"11,160 galleons." [13]

"Uh, er… huh…" Marcus blinked at the precise number. After sparing a thought he found he wasn't really all that surprised that Percy would know the number off the top of his head, despite the early hour. The former Gryffindor always did have a head for keeping on top of things like this. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I know that we're legally married and it is typically expected, but we don't have to-"

"I think we should," Percy interrupted.

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked, apprehension making its way into his voice despite him trying to hide it. He'd found, months ago, that it was beginning to become more and more difficult to hide everything he was truly feeling when conversing with the younger man. "I mean, I know it is common convention to combine vaults after marriage. But I don't want you to feel obligated."

"You're my husband," Percy stated. "And you're also… you're also the father of my child. And if you were serious about your intention to create a family, a real family, then this makes the most sense." He stared imploringly at his husband of no more than ten hours. "Besides," he shrugged. "I want to." This matter of fact statement derailed any protest Marcus could have conceivably had.

Sorting out their initial financial situation was simple. One trip to Gringotts took care of their vaults combining into a new Family Vault. Finding a more permanent residence than a motel, however, proved much more difficult.

They were determined not to rely on what was in their vault beyond the need to furnish their new home with the basics. While Percy had estimated that they'd be able to live comfortably for about four years solely on what they had, neither were keen to attempt to do so. With a child on the way, and an obviously magical one at that (something that wasn't always evident in utero), there were a lot of factors to consider. The equipment and textbooks needed for a full seven years of schooling alone would put a noticeable dent in the sum of galleons.

They'd decided to rent a two bedroom apartment from the beginning, one of which would be the baby's room. It took three weeks to find what they were looking for. After searching what felt like every moderately priced apartment complex in Magical Britain, they found one within their price range that wasn't completely run down. They were even permitted to renovate the place at their own expense.

Neither could say they were sorry to leave the Adder's Fork Motel behind. Thankfully, they were able to move in immediately. And so, they made their way into their new home on Grey Stone Road, walking under the archway reading Wonderland Apartments in fading letters, and up two flights of stairs covered in faded carpet to the third floor. The dim light of the corridor lit up the tarnished brass on the apartment door which read 3C. As Marcus unlocked the door, Percy watched an owl deposit a package into the magical slot on 3A's door before turning back around and flying down the stairs again to exit out the charmed window over the building's front door. [14]

All in all, the apartment wasn't that bad. The paint was peeling and very faded, the wood floor was worn and scratched, and everything was dusty, but it was structurally sound and the windows offered a good view of the street below. Plus, it had a comfortably sized fireplace placed in the living room.

Percy nodded and removed his cloak and outer robe, setting them neatly on the floor before rolling up his sleeves. "Okay, let's get to work."

Percy, being better at cleaning charms, took care of clearing the dirt and dust while Marcus set to work on unshrinking the furniture they'd found in Marcus' vault and liked. As his mother, a particularly powerful muggleborn witch who had been Lord Flint's second wife, had been killed in the last war, most of her personal belongings had been inherited by her only son and stored in his personal vault. What they hadn't been able to find in the vault, they'd purchased second hand. They'd decided against renovating the apartment right away, wanting to focus on the baby's room first. They wouldn't furnish it until after it was born, both holding to the belief that it tempted a negative outcome.

It took the whole morning, but they had the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen set up in time for lunch. It may be a little plainer than some would like, but it suited them just fine.

– 30 –

End Chapter 07


Footnotes:

[11] Conversion rate for this story: $5 (or £5 if you want) per 1 galleon.

[12] As Hecate is the goddess of magic and witchcraft (among other things), it makes sense to me that they'd refer to magic itself as Hecate's Blessing.


Chapter Posted: March 28, 2016