"You're acting rather stoic this morning Percy," remarked Ginny casually, though there was an undertone of real concern in her voice.

"In English please… Percy nearly grunted, pushing the weight up slowly. His whole body was vibrating with effort.

"That was English… stoic as in… unemotional."

"Am I emotional in the morning," he brought the weight back down to his chest.

"Not particularly… let me rephrase," Ginny stopped for a moment, pondering, Percy assumed, her choice of words. "Deliberately stoic, as if you've done something rather daft, or someone else did something rather daft to you and you don't want to talk about it.

This time Percy said nothing, he merely grunted, pushing the weight back up into the air.

"You see my point?" Ginny said. Again Percy was silent.

The truth was that Percy didn't care whether or not Ginny knew what he was feeling, but he couldn't very well tell her that for quite some time now he'd been nearly silent, contemplating his relationship with Joselyn Attache. They were friends, of that he had no doubt. He had no doubt that if she every asked him he would leave his job at the ministry without hesitation and go wherever she wanted.

But he knew deep down that it wasn't nearly that simple. He saw something he was unable to define every time he looked into her eyes. He found himself thinking about her at odd moments during the day, despite his history of discipline.

And at night….

He had stolen a ribbon from her on the night she had disrobed in front of him. She had left first that day, and he had found on the ground a ribbon that had been in her hair before she'd let it down. She hadn't bothered to put it back up. He needed so much to just leave it there, to let Tom get it. But some wanting in him compelled him to grasp it, to feel it in his hand and rub it against his fingers.

It had become a sort of talisman, never visible, but nearly always with him. There were moments during his new work day when he'd have to completely break concentration just to open his drawer and touch it, just to touch it and grasp it and bring it up to his face smelling her and seeing her at the same time.

He slept with it on his bedside table, a comfort far enough away, he felt, that he could be safe in his dreams.

How wrong he was.

There was a point where for one week solid he dreamed of nothing but her, or more accurately them together. Such vivid dreams these were, getting more and more heated each night. The incident at which Ginny found him in the morning did not happen again, but the dreams continued, and he was too embarrassed in the morning to tell Ginny about them.

"Towel?" Ginny handed it to him kindly, not quite as spiteful as she'd been the other morning. He'd pointed out to her a few days later that she did not tell him every aspect of her life and therefore that she should not expect him to do the same. She'd understood.

"Good luck today Percy," she said before going up to bed.

Percy was leaving today for Spain to discuss a treaty with the Spanish equivalent of the ministry's manager of magic motor maintenance. Apparently the Spanish ministry had begun creating muggle automobiles that could fly in the upper troposphere, avoiding detection. This bit of information was one that he'd not shared with his father. There had already been at total of twenty-one sightings of such devices in South-West Britain, and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee had already sent a request to the Obliviator headquarters requesting the removal of a new department in the British Muggle Aerospace administration, dedicated to the research and identification of these flying automobiles. The obliviators had barely gotten to them before the muggle press did.

Percy would be leaving at seven o'clock in the evening, leaving him enough time to see Joselyn before he left, to let her know he'd be gone. And see her and smell her and taste her scent in the air… said a treacherous voice inside of him. Was this what all men felt at some point in their life? Percy mused for a moment about his parents relationship, and then quickly quelled the thought. Not something I want to think about…

The day passed agonizingly slowly. Percy's schedule was clear, in preparation for the meeting in Spain. He hadn't needed it. Percy did very little that wasn't work related. More now, with Joselyn in his life. He leafed through the muggle sighting articles again, more to make it seem like he was doing something than anything else.

A pause, and Percy looked around his office. There was one plant, courtesy of Ginny, a nondescript green plant that looked lively and healthy and needed next to no maintenance, a picture of his family on the wall behind the plant. A few achievement awards, some of which Percy couldn't actually remember winning. He used to keep a log of it, some kind of self-esteem boost for whenever he needed it. He hadn't in quite some time, and anyway. He thought that the log itself was lost.

He opened the drawer, unable to bear it any longer. Grasped the ribbon pulled it up to him, swept it across his lips, taking in the scent of her hair and skin as if it were a drug. He breathed deeply.

Was this obsession? He wondered. But the wonder was short lived. Whether or not it was obsession, it no longer mattered. He thought fleetingly of telling her that today, before he left for Spain. Could he wait another four days? Would she still be here when he came back? Foolish questions, the more sensible part of him said. But the heart holding the hand to the ribbon begged to differ. Perfectly ordinary questions…. His heart raced, holding back and still overflowing.

At 2:30 Percy had to work very hard not to run out of the building, as it was he took long, quick strides and reached the Leaky Cauldron ten minutes earlier than he would have at his normal pace. He paced the room, wondering. Should he tell her?

He fell back, onto the bed, feeling it envelope him comfortingly. What would my family think of her? Someone in her profession… Not as horrific as a deatheater, but still… Mother, what will she think, her son consorting with Scarlet women? Meeting beautiful girls in places such as those… hovels… She might not care about who Joselyn really is, maybe she'll think horribly of her.

Percy grasped the ribbon in his hand. Where was she? He glanced at the clock. It was nearly three-fifteen and she still hadn't arrived. Usually, she was here before he was.

He poured himself a cup of tea, downed it, grasped for a sandwich, and then put it back, suddenly aware of the fact that he was not at all hungry. The tea, still quite hot, scalded his throat, but he hardly noticed.

At four-thirty he was beginning to grow quite worried. The ribbon he held became sweaty, gripped in his wringing hands. Did something happen to her on her way here? Did something happen where she lived or worked?

Trying to calm himself at 6 o'clock, Percy told himself that something had probably happened to the woman Joselyn stayed miserable for, and that she was very old indeed. It was nearly seven now, and so Percy wrote out a note for Joselyn, should she arrive after he'd left.

Joselyn,

I missed you today, I hope everything's alright. I had to leave because I have a business trip in Spain over the next few days. My thoughts will be with you, such as they are, and I hope to see you upon my return. I'll be here on Thursday at the usual time.

Yours,

Percy

Percy walked briskly out of the room, quelling the urge to stay and wait for her until she arrived. The portkey office waits for no man, he reminded himself, something that Albus Dumbledore had told him once before the Quidditch World Cup.

She would be here, when he got back, he reassured himself apparating to the Ministry of Magic entrance.