Thalia: We put in Warrington snark so that you'll not be TOO wibbly after the end of this chapter. Also because we like the idea of chocolate covered/naked/towel Warrington. Yes.

Ravyn: Yes, the less clothing on the Swarthy Git, the better. XD And also, wibbling and angst abound. *huggles poor, abused characters*

Disclaimer: Do not be silly.

Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love. (Jane Austen)

~*~

"… For the traditional seventh year party that the teachers don't know about, we've gotten the staff's permission to spend the evening in Hogsmeade. June eleventh, after all N.E.W.T.S have been completed. They've also extended curfew for two hours that night. Also, the other, equally traditional seventh year party that the teachers actually don't know about will be in the Slytherin dungeons at two hours past curfew."

This won several laughs around the table, but Warrington only grinned smugly as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his feet on the table before him. "And at this party, I fully intend to take off all my clothes, cover myself in chocolate, and willingly accept the help of any of our lovely seventh year ladies to clean me off."

"You're not a seventh year, Warrington." Susannah didn't even look up from her notes when she cast the quick spell that none too gently knocked Warrington's feet off the meeting table. "Thank Merlin."

Penny couldn't help smiling to herself at the Slytherins' antics, though she felt almost as if she didn't belong at this meeting. Percy's eyes sought hers periodically, but she did not meet his questioning gaze. She just…

She just couldn't.

She couldn't pretend that there was nothing between her and Marcus. She couldn't keep measuring one of them against the other, even if it was simply in innocent awe at how different two kisses could be. She couldn't keep hurting Percy, but she couldn't just smile sweetly at him and pretend that her world had not been shifted from its axis, because that simply wasn't true.

And most of all, she couldn't stop caring about either of them.

"Any other business?" Susannah asked, glancing first around the table, and then at the Head Boy who sat next to her. Percy shook his head, and Penny felt a dizzying heat rise in her. The meeting was about to adjourn, and she knew that Percy was going to stay behind, call her name as she approached the door, touch her arm the way he always did when he was concerned…

"Very well, then," Percy was saying, "Diggory, Montague, Capper, you three have rounds tonight. Good evening, everyone."

She rose without really knowing it, swept in the crowd towards the door, but not seeing, not hearing, until…

"Penelope?"

She turned back. "Yes, Percy?"

"Wait a moment, would you?" And she knew it wasn't really a request, so when he turned back to finish his Head Boy business, she stepped just outside the door, waiting, letting the moment play out before her.

"Fascinating wall, Clearwater?" She started, glanced up to see Warrington smirking down on her. "Or have you stumbled upon a potion that lets you see through walls?"

"No, just… tired." Weary. Heavy with concern and confusion.

"That's a shame. A potion like that could make you quite a few Galleons outside the sixth floor girls' lavatory."

"Sixth floor - ?" Penny shook her head, ignoring for the moment that this was in fact the lavatory the Ravenclaw girls used and thinking that she had enough problems without taking Warrington's teasing seriously…

… That is, of course, assuming he was teasing.

"Never mind that," and she paused, weighing the question in her mind. "Cassius, is he - ?"

Warrington leaned against the wall before her, arms crossed, and for a moment he looked uncharacteristically sober. When she could not continue, he said, "I can only assume you were going to ask me about Flint."

She nodded mutely.

"Then all I can really tell you is… perhaps you should ask him yourself."

She frowned, looked up at him, and he only nodded to her right, smirking faintly. She turned to find Marcus there, a ways down the hall, watching her, and she saw her own confusion mirrored in his eyes.

"Penny, I – " But this was not Marcus, it was Percy, coming out of the Prefect's meeting room. And when he stopped, she knew he'd seen Marcus, too.

Penny was suddenly very aware of three pairs of eyes on her, singeing her, waiting for… what? Her decision? With that thought, she sorely wished she knew a spell that would just make her disappear.

"Penny, can we talk, please?"

"I –  I can't." She held Flint's dark eyes for the eternity of an instant before she brought herself to look at Percy. In the corner of her vision, she saw Flint lower his head. "I have something I need to take care of."

She tried to tell herself that it was the right thing to do, that it was only fair. The truth might sting for the moment, but feeding him lies would only pain him more in the end.

But that didn't make the stony look on Percy's face any easier to bear as she brushed his arm the way he always did to her, then turned away to leave with Marcus.

~*~

It was quiet, so still that she could almost imagine that time had stopped and she would not have to face anything but the soft starlight that reflected in his dark eyes. She carefully slipped her hand into his, tangling his fingers in her own.

"Marcus – "

"Don't," he said, his voice a husky whisper, but before she could question him, he went on: "Don't do this to yourself, Penny. You… you should be with someone like him, someone who's as intelligent as you are, who can give you everything you deserve, everything you want – "

"I want you."

He seemed almost surprised, as if he'd expected her to see his reasoning and go back to Percy right then and there. But when she reached up, tried to kiss him, his hands came up to encircle her upper arms, holding her back. "Listen," he said, "don't think I haven't seen it. I know what this is doing to you. I saw, even inside just now. I'm telling you that you don't have to make this decision. I'm making it for you. Two weeks from now I'll be in Auror's training, and you'll be with him – where you belong."

He kissed her then, more gently than he'd ever been with her, and she knew he thought he was saying goodbye.

But… that couldn't be.

Could it?

"Marcus, you can't – "

"Don't," he said again. "It's – it's better this way. After all, I'm just a big, bad Slytherin, and you're Miss Perfect Prefect." He reached out carefully to tuck a stray curl behind her ears, and added quietly, so quiet she wasn't sure she was meant to hear, "You'll always be perfect to me."

Her eyes fell closed, and she breathed deeply to keep herself from crying right there. He couldn't mean any of this. He hated Percy. He would never just give her up. He couldn't mean it…

But when she opened her eyes, he'd turned away from her, leaving a pure white lily pressed in her palm. She couldn't find the words to say, wasn't even sure what she was thinking, so she only watched as his shadowed figure disappeared into the castle.

She gazed down at the lily in her hand, so clean and white, so… perfect, and thought idly to herself that being perfect like everyone expected wasn't as nice as it might seem. She took out her wand, touched it to the pale petals, and when she'd finished, the flower in her hand was not white but green, spotted with flecks of gray.

It looked better that way.

~*~

When she returned to the castle, Percy was standing close to the entrance, but facing away from her.

"Percy…" she uttered his name, almost beseechingly.

He didn't turn around, but the sound of a quiet sigh reached her ears. "Flint, Penny?" It wasn't even harshly spoken. Just quiet, somewhat bitter. If he had ranted and yelled and glared at her, she would have felt better. But Percy was always the perfect gentleman, even when he'd lost.

She bit her lip. "Percy… it wasn't supposed to happen this way," she muttered miserably, "I didn't… mean to…" What was there to say, really?

"How?" Percy asked, in a voice that clearly indicated that he didn't want to know, "Did he seduce you? To get at ME? Gods… did he… what did he DO to you?"

"Nothing!" Penny said sharply, before walking up to him, her voice calmly desperate, willing him to understand, "I didn't MEAN for things to have played out the way they did, Percy. Honest… I had taken his tutoring session because I knew how much he hated you, and I didn't want him to give you trouble…"

"And then he set his sights on you," Percy muttered, the eyes behind his glasses tired, dark with sorrow. His lips curved into a bitter sort of smile. "Well. He must be happy. He WON. He has YOU."

Her heart broke at that, and she couldn't look him in the eye. Hands clasped tightly so he couldn't see them shaking, she whispered, almost too softly to hear, "No... he told me to come back to you, because I deserved better than him."

Percy, ever observant of details, noticed her hands shaking, clutching an oddly coloured lily as if her life depended on it. The quiet note of anguish in her voice was unmistakable, as well as the honesty of her words. As painful as his situation was, hers was no better, he realized. Or, for that matter, Flint's situation. Feeling an odd sense of compassion, he finally stepped forward towards her, stopping in front of her and putting his arms gently around her in a hug that bespoke nothing beyond platonic friendship. "I wish you good luck then, Penny. Really… I hope that you'll be happy. If he can make you happy." The idea was a bit too much for him to swallow, but she leaned her head against his shoulder, in silent gratitude. He felt her tremble slightly.

After a while, she finally spoke again, her voice holding just a brief hint of tears. "Percy," she implored, "I DO love you, just…"

"I understand," he said gravely, patting her back in a manner that was... almost brotherly, as opposed to romantic, "It's all right. I just want you to be happy."

"Thanks," she managed, giving him a watery sort of smile, "You too. I want YOU to be happy."

"Perhaps," he gave her a wry smile. "But… I should get going." Giving her shoulder a brief pat, he looked deeply into her eyes for a long moment. "Take care, Penny."

And here, the words meant more than the usual casual farewell.