After Audrey, Percy imagined himself growing old alone, watching as his daughters grew up around him and paved their own way into the world. He thought that part of his life was over, the romantic aspect of things. It hadn't hurt quite as much after a while. He was merely resigned to it.

But then things changed.

And now here he was, standing in front of a mirror-that blasted talking mirror that George claimed was the best gift he ever gave him. Which, in fact, it wasn't-with butterflies swarming in his stomach as he prepared to go on his first date in a long time. George came around to help him. He, of course, had told him everything. It felt nice to have his brother for things like this and not having to go through it alone. He could also admit that his younger brother was a bit more experienced than he was in this so he greatly appreciated the help.

And then there was Oliver. He wasn't supposed to be there but he was. Evidently, he'd caught wind of things, which meant that George told him. Percy almost smacked his brother for that. He-begrudgingly-supposed it was better than someone else, someone in the family. But it'd been a startling surprise when the keeper apparated into the room right next to Percy.

Percy about fell over, yelping. When he recovered, glaring at his brother and best mate as they snickered at his reaction. "It's not funny!" he barked.

"It is a little," Oliver grinned.

"Too bad I don't have that camera with me. That would've been good for a holiday card," George mused.

"Get out of those robes," George's voice broke through his thoughts.

Percy glanced down at them. They were his work robes but nothing overly flashy or formal. "What's wrong with them?"

George sighed dramatically. "Perce, this is a date. Not a meeting with Kingsley. Loosen up."

Oliver came out of Percy's closet, carrying a bundle of clothes, frowning. "George's right. You can wear these. The clothes I bought you for your birthday a couple years ago." He raised his eyebrows.

Percy tried to refrain from flushing but couldn't. He usually wasn't so rude like that but muggle clothes simply weren't comfortable. He'd hoped that his best mate wouldn't notice and he hadn't for the longest time. Of course, he didn't think Oliver would be raiding through his closet either so he didn't pick a better hiding spot. Sheepish, he held out his hands and took the clothes, retreating to the lavatory to change.

Percy came out a couple of minutes later, grimacing as he glanced down. This was out of his comfort zone and nothing that he would ever buy himself. But Oliver was stubborn. He thought the white t-shirt, red and black checkered button up and black denim trousers would suit him. Which was ridiculous. He wasn't fifteen anymore and this type of attire reminded him of exactly those boys around the neighborhood. He couldn't go out like this, especially on a date.

"You look great," Oliver told him.

"No, I don't," Percy scowled. "I want my clothes back." He turned to do just that but Oliver accico'd them before he could. "Oliver! Give me my robes back this instant!"

Oliver snorted. "Not until after your date."

"No!"

" Yes !"

He and Oliver continued to go back and forth. This was pretty much how their Hogwarts years had gone. They bickered constantly and other people saw that, but they also saw the pair doing almost everything together.

On the sidelines, George was bored. "If you girls are finished," he ignored their glares, "we should mess up Perce's hair."

Percy paused.

"...You mean fix it?"

"No," George rolled his eyes. His brother gawked at him. "Perce, like I said: loosen up. 'Sides, girls dig messy hair."

Percy yelped when Oliver's hands went up to his hair, messing it up and-he lamented-making some ends stick straight up. "Like this?" Oliver asked George, grinning at Percy's narrowed eyes.

"I hate you both."

"You love us," George corrected. " As you should. If we're right about this, you'll get shagged tonight ."

Percy pushed Oliver's hands away. "I don't want to get shagged tonight," he frowned. "I hardly know her. It wouldn't feel right."

George sighed. "I don't know where he gets it from."

"Must be one of his quirks," Oliver agreed.

Percy rolled his eyes. "You two are ridiculous. I just want to get to know her more, see where this goes. I have no intention of doing anything remotely sexual with her yet."

"You hear that?" Oliver said to George, cackling. " Yet !"

"So there's a chance in the future?" George smirked.

"You two are impossible," Percy chided. He sighed. "I just want this to go well."

Oliver patted him- pounded him-on the back. "It will be. Don't worry."

"Says the one who appeared in my flat fretting."

"I wasn't fretting," Oliver disagreed. "You needed help. I'm giving it."

"I didn't ask for it!"

"Well then, be thankful I'm here anyway," Oliver told him with a faux haughty sniff.

Percy pointed an accusing finger at George. "This is all your fault. When I said don't tell anyone, I meant everyone."

Oliver was offended. "Even me?"

" Especially you."

"Rude," Oliver muttered.

George changed the subject. "How long until you leave?"

"I don't know- bugger ," Percy swore. "Five minutes. And you both better behave when she comes."

There was silence. A brief one.

"When she comes by?" George said slowly.

Percy looked at his brother strangely. "Yes."

"Aren't you supposed to get her ?"

"Does it matter ?" Percy said exasperatedly.

George held up his hands in surrender. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Oi, leave me alone."

"Percy's right," Oliver said and Percy almost thought he was coming to defend him. "If he wants to be the woman in the relationship, who are we to stop him?"

They erupted into laughter. He was not impressed. "Idiots," he muttered.

Seconds later, the doorbell rang and Percy's anxiety skyrocketed. "Oh," he breathed. Molly and Lucy didn't hear it because they weren't home at the moment. They were out with that muggle friend of theirs, Cody and wouldn't be back until later that evening. "Merlin...bugger...I need to..I need to-"

"Calm down," Oliver instructed. "Just breathe."

George said slyly, "Want me to go get the door?"

" No! "

Oliver smacked George. "You're not helping."

George hit him back. "And you were?"

" I told him to breathe- ow! Stop it!"

Percy exhaled, adjusting those blasted clothes. Ignoring the children in the background. "Alright," he said over their cries of pain and insults, "I'm going."

They stopped, whilst their limbs were tangled together.

He raised his eyebrows at them.

"How does he do that?" George grumbled, letting go of Oliver. "He was just flipping out..."

Loads of practice , Percy thought with a shake of his head, "Promise me you'll both behave," he said to them. They were going to wait at the flat until he got back because they were worse than gossiping girls, wanting to hear all about it-the details that Oliver falsely believed he needed to know. At first, he refused to allow them to stay there without him being there to watch over them. Those two were a handful by themselves, let alone together. But they pleaded-which in and of itself didn't do anything to change his mind, but they knew how to get under his skin. They repeated it constantly until he snapped fine at them.

Which is how they got to now.

"We always do," George flashed him a grin. "Now go get your woman before she sees sense and leaves!"

Percy grumbled, disregarding his brother's only joking, Perce and, with a wildly beating heart, rushed downstairs to the front door. He was so jittery and out of sorts, just like how he'd been when he approached Penny to hand her the sweets he'd bought for her. Somehow, it seemed easier than this. It'd been years since he'd actually gone on a date. He was likely out of touch with what was considered correct behavior for one.

He opened the door, plastering on a smile he hoped looked natural. But that thought faded when he caught a look at her, it made a smile creep out for real that time. He was suddenly glad that George made him change. She was wearing nothing dressy, really she looked no different than the last time except she was wearing denims too and her hair was tightly braided into two.

He tried not to notice how her lips looked shiny this time around.

From behind, he thought he heard a subtle, quiet cough. If either of them came down, they'd wished they hadn't. Still, he didn't want to let her on to any of them. "Hello," he said with a warm smile.

"Hi," she said shyly. A few seconds passed and then she brightened. "Oh, I almost forgot!"

"What did you-"

" Orchideous," she said and it conjured a bouquet of flowers from her wand. She gave them to him. He accepted, stunned.

"Oh...thank you."

She tilted her head. "You don't like them? I can conjure up something else, if you'd like. Course, I wasn't that good at transfiguration. How about you? Were you good? I feel like you were. You were pretty smart. I only know that because I watched you sometimes. Does that sound stalkerish? I feel like it does."

He finally found his words. "No, no. I love them."

"Oh, yay!"

"I've just never been given flowers before," he traced a finger over one of the petals. He'd been the one to give both Penny and Audrey a set on occasion. They never reciprocated the gesture but he didn't think much of it. His eyes met Abby's, feeling touched. "Thank you very much. Why don't you come in while I find a vase for these?"

"Okay!" Abby stepped inside, not venturing very far while Percy went into the kitchen. He couldn't find a vase after searching the cabinets and pantry so he simply conjured up one. He returned to find her glancing around, still in that spot. "

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah!" She took his arm and apparated them away.

She took Percy to a dark alleyway where they wouldn't be seen by any muggles. It was on a less busier section of muggle London and since Percy wasn't familiar with this area like she was, Abby led the way for them. They walked a couple miles down the sidewalk in a comfortable silence, passing by others who were also out and about that evening.

The plan was to go to the cinema, like they'd originally discussed. Abby couldn't wait to share this experience with him and Percy was equally as excited-and nervous-to be with her during that time. But, of course, things don't always go according to plan. When they got there, the ticket sales were on hold temporarily. The place was astoundingly full, with no open seats. Abby rubbed her chin, humming.

"That's a bummer."

What were they to do now? Would they have to cut the date short and reschedule it for another time? Percy didn't want to do that, but he also didn't seem bossy by making any other suggestions. He stayed quiet.

She turned to him. "Oh, well! We can go another time. Maybe we can see that talking cat movie that's gonna come or a horror movie! Do you like scary stuff? We could see a scary movie. I love those! They're the best. You should definitely see one."

"Perhaps," he agreed. "So, err, what exactly do you want to do now? Shall we wait for another time until it's open?"

She stared at him, then giggled. "No, silly. We'll find something else to do."

"O-oh," he was pleased with that answer. "In that case, what would you like to do?"

She thought about it briefly. And then suddenly grabbed his hand. He swore it felt like sparks. "Come on. I've got an idea! I think you'll love it!"

Abby had a car. An old, beat up car that looked out of place with all the others on her street. She'd taken him back to her neighborhood, digging for the keys in her pocket and unlocked the door. Percy flinched at the noise, eyeing the contraption warily. It wasn't like he hadn't been in a car-he had. The Ford Anglia that his dad owned until Ron and Harry lost it in the woods when they flew the blasted thing to Hogwarts. However, just like his dating life, it had been a long while since he'd been in one.

"Come on," she gestured. "You can get in. Don't worry, it's safe. At least I think it is. I was technically supposed to take it to a mechanic-that's a guy that fixes cars- for some noise it keeps making. But I keep forgetting. Oh, well. Can't be that bad if it's still running, right?"

She laughed.

Percy still didn't get in. The interior looked cleaned, except for a couple empty plastic cups, but Abby was taking those out and dumping them in the trash can now. When she was done, she asked, "Have you ever been in a car before?"

"Yes," he said carefully. "It's just...it's been a while."

"Well come on, silly," she got in, grinning at him. He did, but he was slow about it. "Don't worry I won't make us crash. I've never crashed a car before. I'm a super good driver. I promise. I mean, I did go on the sidewalk once but no one was hurt! I popped a tire, though. Have you ever put a tire on before? Well, probably not, but I tried and I couldn't do it. It's very hard."

Percy put the seatbelt on, glancing at her. "Try not to get on the sidewalk this time, yeah?" he smiled.

She giggled. "Okay. Hold on."

"Why do I have to-" Percy would later vehemently deny that he let out a rather unmanly squeak of alarm when the car took off.

Abby's driving was, to say the least, interesting. He was fairly sure she was going a little too fast, but she didn't seem bothered by it and they'd yet to hit anyone or anything, so he tried to relax.

She took him on a backroad, she'd said and told him it was going to be a bit of a drive. He wasn't sure why they hadn't just apparated to this spot she was so adamant about going to. It likely would have been easier. However, when he looked over at her again, there was a beam on her face and she just seemed so happy and carefree . And oh, the way she looked back at him. It made his heart leap.

Eventually, the sun started to set. A soft orange shadow fell onto them.

"The sky's so pretty," Abby sighed softly in contentment. "I love sunsets, don't you? They're the best. Sunrises are nice, too, but I like sunsets better. 'Sides, I'm too tired in the morning to notice it anyway. But how about you? Which do you like more? Do you have a favorite or no?"

"I've never really thought about it," he admitted. Then he decided to inquire about their destination. "Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see!" she said cheerfully.

"Can't I have a hint?"

"Nooooo," she stretched out the word. "We're almost there, anyway."

"But the question is where is there ?"

She chose to hum instead of answering him. Was he mad to say that he liked the sound of that as well? Because he did. He really, really did. Percy jerked when he felt a finger poke his side.

"Percyyy . You're staring."

Try as he might, he couldn't keep himself blushing. "I wasn't.,...I was...ah...I wasn't looking at you . I was, erm, I was looking at the sky."

The sky . The same sky which if he looked out the window on Abby's side, had nothing but a single white puffy cloud in the shape of a blob.

He could just hear George bursting out into laughter, picturing him face-palming before doing so.

"The sky?" Abby repeated, biting down on her lip to keep from laughing.

"Yes," he attempted to sound prim but failed miserably.

" Suuure ," she said teasingly. "Oh! We're here!" She parked the car and they got out, with Percy slowly getting out, head tilted at the scene in front of him.

It was a cliff and if you looked past the cliff, you could see water surrounding it. It was beautiful, especially with the sunset. Percy stared at it in awe while Abby stood beside him. "It's pretty isn't it?" She said. "I like coming here. It's nice. You've never been here, have you? I didn't think so I thought this would be neat. Do you like it? I know it's not the cinema but this is fun, too." She sat on the ground in front of her car, gesturing for him to join her. He did, tucking his feet underneath of him. She was leaning back with her palms pressed on the ground, knees up.

"This is really nice," Percy said,

She brightened up. "Oh, you like it!"

"Yes, it's beautiful here."

And so was she, but Percy didn't say it.

In the distance, the waves crashed against the cliff. There was a faint breeze that flew through, making the pieces of Abby's hair that came free from her braids flow back behind her. And while there were a few people around, a few couples , it was mostly peaceful. It felt so...intimate.

Tell her. Tell her now. She needs to know!

"There's...something I need to tell you," he murmured.

She scooted closer. The scent of her shampoo infiltrated his nostrils. It was vanilla. A sweet smelling vanilla that made his insides feel like mush. "What's that?"

He swallowed. He could count all of the freckles that were scattered across her cheeks. "Well, I...I just think that before we continue whatever this is, I should tell you that I have children. Two of them, in fact. And if you aren't interested in that kind of relationship that I entirely understand-"

"Oooh! That's so sweet. How old are they? Are they boys or girls? Or both? Are they twins? Wouldn't that be funny? Your parents had twins and now you!"

It wasn't the kind of reaction he expected. She was acting like she was actually okay with this. He thought she would have stiffened, made a face or some excuse that she just got called into work just to get away and avoid him in the future. Not this. Never this. Yet that's what she was doing.

"They're girls," he said, feeling more than slightly confused. "Two years apart. So not twins, no...So, for the record, am I understanding this correctly that you're okay with me having kids?"

"Of course, silly!"

It was a huge feeling of relief washing over him. That was another fear of his, coming across someone he thought he might fancy, only to know that she doesn't like kids. Whoever he ended up with had to like kids and his girls had to like her back. He refused to be with somebody that his girls didn't approve of. They all needed to be happy. Not just him. And Abby genuinely seemed to be alright with it.

"Really?" He said with caution. "You aren't just saying that?"

"No," she flicked him of all things. He stared at her baffled. She only smiled innocently in response. Oh, so they were doing this again? Honestly, he didn't know what came over him when he flicked her back on her temple. "You just flicked me!" she accused, with a grin threatening to come over her.

"I did," he agreed.

"How rude," she flicked him again and it turned out to be an all out war between them. "Take that!"

"Oh, is that how it's going to be? Well, I can't let you go on unpunished."

"Oh yeah?" She said challengingly.

"Indeed," he nodded, faking solemnity. "I'll just have to-"

And instead of poking her in the same spot, continuing the lighthearted mood, he went ahead and poked her right in the eye. Abby's hands immediately went to her face and he'd never felt more embarrassed than he did in that moment.

"Oh, Merlin," he muttered, mortified. Couldn't the ground just swallow him whole now? "Merlin...I'm so sorry! I certainly didn't mean to do that! Are you alright? Can you see? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"I'm fine," Abby, to his astonishment, hadn't stopped smiling. "It only hurt for a second."

But Percy wasn't consoled. He couldn't believe he'd done that. Couldn't believe how he'd ruined the moment so quickly. I'm not cut out for this. I shouldn't be here. I should go home . "I'm so sorry," he repeated.

"Hey," She nudged him. "It's okay. Don't feel bad. I injure myself loads of times. I fall up the stairs a lot. Have you fallen going up the stairs? I broke my nose once. Fell right on my face! It hurt plenty, more than this."

Her eye was slightly pink, slightly watery. Nothing terrible , but Percy felt bad nonetheless.

"Tell me about your girls," Abby said. She wasn't touching him, but she looked like she considered it. It made Percy's heart speed up.

"A-About the girls?"

Stop it! He scolded himself. You are not a teenager. You are a grown man with children. Act like it!

"Yeah!" Abby nodded encouragingly. "I wanna know everything!"

"Are you sure?" He said with hesitation. This hardly seemed like first date conversation material. However Abby didn't come off to him as someone to play by the rules so to speak. "I wouldn't want to bore you."

"You won't," she shook her head. "I wanna hear about them. I haven't really been around kids much. Not since I left the orphanage, if you don't count Hogwarts."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows, one piece of information sticking with him. "You lived in an orphanage?"

"Mhm."

"Oh," he was surprised.

"I dunno what happened to my parents. Miss Mildred said I was dropped off one night in the rain and that was it."

He didn't know whether it was inappropriate to ask this or not. "You never went to look for them?"

"No," she said, shrugging. "I used to wonder what they looked like and stuff but I don't really care anymore. Just kinda grew out of it, you know? Besides, I have Randy and his family is super nice. I really like them. They're kinda like my almost family."

"Oh. Well, erm, that's nice."

The stars were starting to come out. Some of the people who were around were leaving, now that it was dark out. But they stayed put.

"So," Abby must have realized they strayed from the topic, "your girls?"

"Right," he inhaled. "Well, erm, my oldest is Molly. She's fifteen. She's starting her fifth year this year. Lucy's my youngest. She's thirteen and going into her third year."

"Oooh, third year was fun! Did you ever go to Hogsmeade? I loved going! It was so much fun! I loved going to HoneyDukes! They have the best lollipops!"

"I quite enjoyed it myself," he agreed. He didn't say anymore after that, even with her looking at him expectantly.

"So?"

"What?"

"What house are they in? What do they like to do for fun?" She was waving her hand as a sign for him to go on.

"Oh. You still want to hear about them."

" Of course! "

"Okay. Well. Molly and Lucy are both Gryffindor's."

She nodded to show she was listening.

"Molly looks like me the most but she certainly doesn't act like me," that brought out a smile on his face. That was an understatement if he ever heard one. "She's my little firecracker, always getting into some mischief. Lucy's a little more like me but not much. She cares about school a little more than her sister does and unlike Molly she isn't playing quidditch."

"She plays?" Abby was interested. "Ooooh! What does she play?"

"Beater," Percy said. "It's very fitting, actually. I've tried to curb her behavior but she keeps getting into fights with kids at school. I don't know where she got her anger from." That last part was muttered under his breath.

She started to giggle, prompting him to ask just what was so funny. "I'm sorry," she was trying to smother her laughter, "I'm sorry. It's just funny. You were so...you know during school and now your daughter is the opposite. It's funny."

"I suppose it is," he chuckled.

He didn't think his teenage self would be able to handle it if he knew his future daughter was as much of a troublemaker as her uncles. Growing up, he had envisioned how his family was supposed to be: his children would be well educated, polite, driven, and so unlike everyone else because they were (partly) made by him.

And then reality set after Molly grew older, shattering those ideas.

Abby moved her hand to where it wasn't touching his but adjacent to it. "What's on your mind?" She said softly. "You're spacey."

"It's nothing," he shook his head.

"I'll flick you again," she said with an attempt at sounding serious but that boiled over into a grin. " Percy , come on. Tell me what's up."

"It's just...I don't even know. I haven't been on a date in ages. My girls don't even know I'm here."

"Are you worried about what they'll say?" she asked with no judgement to her voice.

He lowered his head.

"It's okay," she said soothingly. "I understand. Sort of. I'm not upset. I'm really not."

Percy let out a sigh. He still didn't look her in the eye. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This isn't supposed tobe like this."

"You don't have to apologize," she said softly. "It's okay."

But it didn't feel like it was. "I...I would like to continue this," he said, somehow making his voice steady and not a stumbling mess. "If you would like to, of course. It's just..."

"We can take it slow," she said kindly and out of nowhere, she took a piece of taffy out of her pocket, popping it into her mouth.

"Slow?" he repeated. "You don't mind?"

"Nope."

A smile spread across his face. "Okay," he agreed. "We'll take it slow."

She beamed. "Now I do believe you owe me."

" I owe you?"

"Yes," she said. "You're supposed to tell me more about you. So far I don't know much."

"There's a reason for that," he muttered and then louder he said, "I'm not really interesting. I'm rather boring in comparison to my siblings."

"No you're not," she disagreed.

"You don't know that-"

"Sure I do! I like hearing you talk. It's nice," she pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Your voice is nice. I like it."

"You do ?"

"Yeah," she seemed a bit bashful. Or maybe not? He was rubbish at reading people.

"Oh," he was flattered. "Well, thank you."

They talked for hours under the moonlight after settling into a rhythm. Percy felt the tension he'd brought with him melt. Abby didn't seem to grow bored of listening to him and she even laughed at his attempts at jokes which he knew were not that amusing.

One thing was for sure, he thought when she dropped him off at home and he glanced behind him as she walked back to her car, he was thoroughly falling for Abby Adams.

And he wasn't sure if he felt more scared or excited.