Silent Truths
He first kissed her because of her sunny mass of curls and her dimpled chin and the way her eyes flashed in delight when she understood something.
Percy's immediate reaction was to keep it a secret, because he was such a private person. Solitude was precious in a house with six siblings, and Penelope didn't deserve the teasing he knew the twins would give them if they ever found out.
Somehow, it was his little sister who knew first, and slowly she told the others. Then he realized that he'd be damned if they said anything, because she had this way of walking that made it look like she was dancing, and she chewed on her bottom lip when she was thinking hard.
He had arrived on the doorstep of her small flat at four in the morning; cold, angry, and beyond speech. She didn't ask any questions, but helped him with his bags and made him a cup of tea and let him curse his family while she listened in supportive silence.
That was the night that Percy knew everything was different. The noise and the strength and the solidity that had always come from being in such a large family were suddenly gone. Now there was only him and Penelope, comfortable silences and murmurs of poetry in the dead of the night.
He was drawn to her hair and her chin and her joy of knowledge, but he fell in love with the way she organized her cabinets, the smudge of mascara underneath her eyes, and the skin between her nose and upper lip that always became red and raw when she had a cold.
In his heart he knew that Fudge was wrong and that his family was right. He had always wondered, but he knew he believed when Penelope started crying when she told him how Cedric had asked her on a date when she was in her fifth year and he was in his fourth. She started sobbing and she didn't stop until her eyes had closed in sleep upon the stained and damp pillow, smeared with traces of dark make-up and the truth that he had tried to avoid.
At that point, though, Percy thought it didn't matter what he or she really knew. Penny would help him and be with him and love him despite the way her eyes darkened when she read the Daily Prophet in the morning and saw him walk off to the Ministry every day.
The day it changed was the day she came home from an errand that she wouldn't tell him about, tight lipped, pale faced. That was the day she started asking about his family, occasional little comments that he knew hinted at something more.
Once she told him that the Twins had opened a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Percy said nothing, but sipped his tea and shook his head slightly, hardly even aware of the motion. Another time she casually mentioned that she was sending a letter to a friend at Hogwarts, and would he like to send anything to Ron or Ginny? Percy ignored the comment and didn't tell her about the letter he had already sent. He had done his best and he couldn't be faulted for it.
That night he dreamt he saw Ron's head break the surface of the lake again, next to Potter and the little Veela girl.
When it finally happened, Percy came home and for the first time told Penny about work. He told her what she must have already known from the rumors that were flying about London, that Voldemort was sighted in the Ministry and a dozen or so of his Death-Eaters were in custody.
She nodded grimly and one hand drifted to her stomach while the other picked at a loose thread on the arm of the sofa.
The next week she came back from Diagon Alley, set her purchases on the table in the kitchen, and turned to him where he sat nursing a mug of tea and not looking at the newspaper in front of him.
"I saw your father today," she began. "I don't think he recognized me, since he only met once." Percy couldn't tell if there was any accusation in her voice. "He looked tired."
Percy set down his mug and looked up at her, not saying anything, waiting for her to continue.
Penelope drew in a deep breath. "I think you should talk to him, Perce. At least, just to say hello, maybe tell him where you're staying, how you're doing, about us." Silence. "He's your father, Percy."
"And you're not my wife, Penny." His voice was cutting and as he said it, he knew it was a mistake, he knew this whole thing was a mistake. He never should have gotten involved or fallen in love. He should have stayed with shiny badges and cauldron bottoms.
She drew in a small, sharp breath, and her hands went to her middle, to center herself it looked like. "I'm not your wife, but I love you. I love you and I refuse to stop." She turned and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door carefully behind her. Percy almost wished she had slammed it.
A few hours later, he opened the door slowly, quietly, letting a small amount of light spill into the darkened room.
"Penny?" Percy began, but there was no answer. His eyes adjusted and he saw her sleeping peacefully on the bed, her curls tousled around her. He drew nearer and saw her blotchy skin and her damaged makeup. He sat down beside her and drew one of her hands in his. The other one was resting on her stomach. Percy thought about it and he thought about the errand she never told him about and he thought about his family and Ron emerging from the lake and little Ginny seeing it all first.
And suddenly he understood.