A/N: I am actually the least reliable updater ever, aren't I? I'll spare you my excuses and apologies and simply try, as always, to get better at this. Also, I know this may sometimes look doubtful to all of us but I will be finishing this. It's not getting abandoned even if the updates do take some time.

Huge thanks as always to those reading, favouring, following and reviewing.

Jadely31 – In short, dear Percy is not subtle. Despite his desire to keep the peace he always manages to be rather blunt really. Still, I don't think Oliver's complaining. ;) Thanks for reviewing! :)

A Subtle Change

Chapter 25

At 9:30am on the 5th January Percy Weasley was to be seen dashing through the Ministry foyer on his way up to his office, hair a little less tamed than usual and all in all appearing to be not quite his usual pristine self. Charging down the corridor to his boss' office he pulled up short just before her door, in order to catch his breath and smooth his robes, before knocking politely.

Druscilla Thornfield called him in but did not raise head, eyes or voice in greeting.

"Good morning, Professor. I'm just letting you know I'm in and I'm so sorry!" Percy's words tumbled out in direct contrast to the woman's nonchalant disinterest.

"What for?" she asked vaguely, never lifting her eyes from her paperwork.

Percy looked momentarily confused, "I'm late."

"Really, I hadn't noticed." It was impossible to tell if her deadpan was supposed to be sarcastic or if he actually had not been missed.

He hesitated in the doorway.

"Was there something else?" Druscilla asked, still not looking up from where she was now scrawling notes across a report.

His mouth was dry, his voice cracked and quiet but steady. "I spoke to Oliver."

Finally she looked up at him. She remained silent for a long moment, appearing to be searching for words. "And?" was the only one she seemed to settle on.

"We…sorted things out."

They exchanged a look fraught with meaning, and a small smile tugged at her pink lips. "I'm very glad to hear that, Percy."

The relief that flooded over him was as much due to her not requesting further explanation as it was to her sudden change in attitude towards him.

Druscilla got up from her desk and stalked over to him. "Nice tie," she took hold of the item of clothing in question and tugged on it gently, "A favourite of yours I assume." Her smile took on a wicked edge, "Given that you were also wearing it yesterday."

Percy blushed deeply.

His boss laughed but at least managed to sound fond rather than mocking, "Order meeting's at 2 o'clock, remember. I'd eat lunch first, goodness knows how long this one will meander for."

XXXXXXX

The Order meeting managed, unusually it had to be said, to start promptly at 2pm. That it started promptly however looked to be the best that could be said for it.

The room was uncomfortable, the atmosphere troubled and tense. Harry's discovery had raised spirits only briefly before causing them all to descend back into arguments over how best to proceed.

Paranoia, lack of trust, forever finding fault with each other's ideas and opinions. This, Moody thought, was the way to get things done. Any plan that could survive the current level of scepticism and scrutiny would have to be the right one. He'd always felt the same way while working for the Ministry, if a plan could survive a roomful of infighting Aurors it could damn well survive a few sodding Death Eaters. He approved of what he assumed was Dumbledore's latest leadership strategy. He did however intend to keep a close watch on the other Order members, tensions were running high and you never knew what people might do if they cracked.

Accordingly, Moody's magical eye swivelled downwards to look through the table at what the various Order members were doing while they believed themselves to be unobserved.

Druscilla Thornfield and Remus Lupin didn't look to be sitting especially close from above the table but below it their lower bodies seemed to migrate ever closer to each other ending with their feet jostling for space and occasionally kicking each other.

On Druscilla's other side her young assistant Percy Weasley was taking notes with one hand disappearing under the table, where it was being held firmly by the worried looking quidditch player beside him. Interesting development there. The young Weasley seemed to draw strength from the contact, glancing up from his notes every few minutes with a small smile that Oliver Wood eagerly returned. Perhaps not a bad development, if a rather odd one, if it could calm the over-sensitive young redhead.

Thinking of over-sensitive redheads, Moody glanced further down to where Molly Weasley was knitting at top speed. A glance through the table showed Moody that her husband was obediently sat with the skein of wool wrapped about his hands next to her.

Fred and George Weasley were, as ever, attempting to incite chaos and had magically tied Percy's shoelaces together. They were now sat grinning maniacally at each other and sneaking significant looks at their oblivious older brother.

Oblivious as Percy might be however, someone else had noticed the twins' troubling gleefulness. Oliver Wood had been Fred and George's captain for too long not to know what their current expressions meant. It meant what most of their expressions meant. Trouble. Given that it was Percy who seemed to be the current subject of their amusement, Oliver was not about to take any chances. There was a spare quill lying between him and his...what was Percy, he suddenly thought. They hadn't exactly discussed labels but Oliver wasn't really bothered about them in any case. For now at least, Percy's hesitant but fond greeting at the start of the meeting and the steady grip of his hand were good enough. Oliver drifted back from this consideration at the sound of a none too subtle snort from one of the twins. He grabbed the spare quill and toyed with it idly for a moment before dropping it 'accidentally' to the floor. No one seemed to notice as Oliver slipped from his chair to pick it up, even Percy was too engrossed in his writing to do much more than glance up in response to Oliver letting go of his hand.

Unbeknownst to Oliver though, Moody was still watching intently through the table wryly amused as Oliver set about untying Percy's shoelaces from each other. It appeared the quidditch player never even considering using magic to accomplish this.

Oliver resurfaced just in time to hear round fourteen (at least it was round fourteen by Moody's frustrated reckoning) of the Order's back and forth of what to do for Harry. This strategy of Dumbledore's might help them find a plan that could stand up to anything but it was tedious business to sit through.

Molly Weasley was clearly becoming distressed, her knitting had ceased and the wool was drooping from her needles. "We know where he is, what are we waiting for?" she asked.

"We can't just walk in and demand him back you know." Druscilla Thornfield seemed to have lost her kicking battle with Remus and it had not left her in a sympathetic mood (though in Moody's opinion nothing ever did, it was one of the few things he approved of about her).

Arthur was quick to jump quietly and politely, but nonetheless firmly, to his wife's defence. "I don't believe that Molly was suggesting we could, she was pointing out that time is of the essence."

"Oh believe me, Arthur, I've been advocating action for some time now," Thornfield sounded just a little accusatory, "But first of all we need a working plan."

"What happened to Harry's wand?" Dedalus Diggle, usually almost silent at these meetings, spoke up in his carefully measured tones. "We know their wands are connected and when He first returned Harry managed to overpower Him with it. If Professor Snape could smuggle it to him he might be able to fight You-Know-Who, and once He's dead surely most of the Death Eaters would just scatter."

"It's been destroyed." Snape shot the plan down instantly.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. If Moody was any judge, this was news to the Headmaster.

"Are you sure, maybe Voldemort's kept hold of it and just told Harry it was destroyed? He may want to study it to work out the connection with his own wand." Remus Lupin was, the ex-auror noted, sounding increasingly as though he were grasping at straws in these meetings. At least he wasn't indulging in the 'you-know-who' nonsense.

Sape's eyes met the werewolf's desperate gaze with a burning dislike. "He already understands the connection with his own wand, Lupin, and though yes he may have liked to have studied it, I can assure you it was destroyed because I snapped it myself."

The table stared silently at Snape for a moment before breaking out all at once into uproar.

"You did what?!" Remus all but exploded.

Dumbledore simply watched quietly.

"Severus..." Even McGonagall didn't seem to know how to respond.

The spy bristled in an unusually defensive display. "It was his wand, not his neck as has so often been tempting."

"Well right now snapping your neck looks rather tempting to me!" Remus snarled, outraged at the man's calm confession and cold demeanour.

"Am I supposed to believe that it is unusual for you to feel this way?" Snape sneered. "Not like you haven't tried before, back at school."

Remus was clearly getting hot and bothered, Moody thought as he watched the man lean across the table, eyes flashing dangerously. "It's not unusual at all, it's the feeling most people get after more than ten minutes in your company!"

"Better than the fleas they pick up after ten minutes in yours."

"I do not have fleas!" Moody had seen this particular insult passed from Snape to Lupin numerous times and, although Remus seemed confused as to why the spy didn't try some new and more inventive insult, Moody was impressed by the subtle effect this accusation always had. Mention fleas to almost anyone and they will suddenly find themselves itching.

Severus smirked as Remus scratched his head distractedly, as he ended up doing most times. A small victory though was no where near enough to make Snape back down from a fight, especially with Lupin, and he looked ready to continue when Moody was intrigued to see, through the table again, Minerva McGonagall's reaction to the conflict.

The Deputy Headmistress placed a hand on Snape's leg just above his knee and the effect was almost instantaneous. The man seemed to calm at her touch and, though he didn't spare her a glance, it seemed some silent communication had passed between them. Snape sat back, granted looking sour about things, and stopped appearing quite as ready to strangle Remus as he had before. Remus in turn calmed as Snape did. Remus was not, Moody noted, an unnecessarily aggressive man, despite being a werewolf, and when people stopped pushing him he was generally quick to cool. Unlike Snape, who was still simmering quietly at McGonagall's side.

Moody observed curiously that the only one at the table who didn't look at least a little relieved by the sudden cessation of hostilities was Druscilla Thornfield. She had a look on her face that suggested she'd just been deprived of her evening's amusement. McGonagall was certainly a calming influence on the slippery potions master but Thornfield's influence on Lupin was anything but. Moody would not have been surprised to see her prodding the werewolf into further fighting, though what she gained from the animosity was a mystery to the ex-Auror.

Much of the actions of the other Order members were a mystery to Alastor and he departed quickly once the meeting was called to an uncomfortable and unproductive close.

Moody was not the only one dissatisfied with the slow progress of their meetings. Remus was feeling increasingly despondent and more than a little annoyed with Dru's ever-irritating behaviour. At the close of the meeting she had made her way over to Severus with whom she was talking quietly.

Remus watched from the door after most people had left. He saw Druscilla move as though to put a hand on the potion master's arm but then seemed to change her mind suddenly and instead swept her hand through her hair. She was naturally a very physical, tactile person but even she was aware that acting that way around Snape was the quickest way to lose an arm, especially in his current foul mood. Remus couldn't imagine Severus allowing anyone inside his personal space bubble right now. He was however responding seemingly positively to Druscilla who, as she often did with Severus, had dropped all traces of the teasing, flirtatious persona and was treating the man with a level of respectful distance Remus sometimes forgot she was capable of. There was no doubt in Remus' mind that Druscilla knew how to handle people, she was first and foremost a politician, but he was sure that that was not what he was seeing. After all, you didn't 'handle' Severus. What he was looking at, and not really enjoying seeing, was a genuinely good working relationship - something he found it difficult to maintain with either of them (and Severus found difficult to maintain with anyone).

Seeming to notice she was under scrutiny, Druscilla caught Remus' eye and excused herself as McGonagall came over to speak to Snape. "You're looking sour," she commented as she joined him.

"What were you talking to Severus about?" the question was out of his mouth before he could think how bad an idea it was.

She raised an eyebrow and wandered out of the door with him following. "What if I told you that was none of your business?"

"Then I'd say you were right," Remus quickly conceded, "But I assumed it must have been something pressing for you to want to talk to him in his present mood."

She gave an unladylike snort of amusement and wandered towards the kitchen. "His present mood seems mostly directed at you, and it's very rare that I don't want to speak to Severus, the man is one of the few people around here with a clear head on his shoulders most of the time - and yes Remus that includes you. You know you sound like a jealous lover asking me to justify who I've been talking to and why."

Remus bristled uncomfortably, "I'm neither jealous nor your lover, just impressed you tolerate Snape's company."

Druscilla halted suddenly and pulled him into the empty kitchen. "He's under an awful lot of pressure, Remus. I appreciate we're all starting to crack a bit but we need him, you need him, so you need to leave schoolboy differences behind you!"

Remus removed himself from her grasp and returned her stern look with one of his own. "I'm well aware of how much pressure Severus is under, better than you I should think."

The possessive tone in Remus' voice caught Druscilla's attention, "Good heavens Remus, which one of us are you jealous of?"

Remus' gut reaction was to instantly deny jealousy of any kind, but honestly he could admit to a slightly territorial feeling when it came to both of the difficult Slytherins. He had been Druscilla's main point of contact with the Order since she had joined, despite her close work with Percy, and he had remained the focus of much of her attention. There was no denying that irritating and difficult as he sometimes found her he also cared for her a good deal, had even begun to wonder lately if there weren't more to their relationship than the surface tension.

As for Severus, well in some ways Remus found that even less surprising. There was an understanding between the two men, rarely acknowledged and in Severus' case likely unwanted, forged by a better idea of what each other were than most other people had of them. Severus had seen him as no other living person had, he had encountered the snarling, murderous beast that lurked within and seemed to understand that the moon did not create it but merely brought it to the fore. As to Severus' activities with the Death Eaters, Remus was hardly the member of the Order that had seen the worst of that but he had seen Severus scared and vulnerable at school (though always fighting on regardless) enough to know something of the reason behind those activities. They had each seen the other at their most exposed, all veneer of civility gone (hilarious that it had been high school that had shown the worst of both of them - albeit in disparate ways) and they both hated it, almost hated each other for it. Remus hated not only the exposure of his true nature at the full moon and the danger it had put Severus in, but also the exposure of his true self in those school corridors - the boy who was so grateful to have friends he'd looked the other way and even shamefully joined in with them when their behaviour had been reprehensible. When it came down to it he and Severus understood each other because they were very similar, both desperate enough at some point in their lives for approval that they had thrown aside all concerns of right and wrong in order to get it. So their understanding, and his possessiveness of it, was unsurprising. What did surprise him was that Dru had seen it. Having worked things out of course Dru had rearranged the facts to her own amusement, but it didn't stop her being right.

She was currently giving him a smug smile that he was itching to wipe off her handsome face. "Don't mind me, you go back to your internal analysis, I'll just be enjoying the image of the pair of you." She winked and he couldn't help but laugh.

"You are absolutely terrible!"

"But of course," she grinned, "But then I'm not the Gryffindor with a Slytherin fetish, like to see you explain that to everyone."

"I thought you Slytherins thought all Gryffindors had bad taste so why should this surprise you?" he teased.

"Remus Lupin, what a thing to say! I'll have you know you are the exception that proves the rule; quite clearly your taste is exquisite. Severus and I are both highly desirable. You should argue with him more often though, I like seeing him all riled up like that."

"What?!"

"I know it's twisted but he really suits that whole tortured double agent look, you know brooding and tormented and like he might just suddenly snap and kill you in a moment of passion," her eyes danced far too merrily considering the subject.

Remus looked appalled, "Stop talking, just stop, I'm begging you, before I lose any respect I ever had for you. How can you say things like that!?"

"Because they're true. Go ahead and deny it if you like but sometimes I'm not sure if you two want to rip each other's throats out or rip each other's clothes off."

Remus was crimson, either with embarrassment or rage she wasn't sure, and seemed unable to get out a response. After a long moment consisting of incoherent exclamations of anger, and likely denial, he gripped her arm and shook her suddenly. "Everything that man goes through and that is your response! He puts his life and his sanity on the line and all you can say is 'the tortured look suits him'! Do you ever consider people as more than just playthings, Druscilla!?"

She purred and stepped in closer, "So who are you jealous of then?"

"Severus and I have never got along from almost the moment we met and likely we never will, not because I don't respect him or can't see what a truly remarkable person he is but because the two of us are never going to stop rubbing each other the wrong way," Druscilla looked delighted with this choice of phrasing. "You are a beautiful, intelligent woman with an amazing ability to analyse people and events," the woman before him was practically preening, "And watching the way you tend to use that to manipulate and misrepresent everything for your own amusement," he continued, "I have to admit, Dru, there are times when I think I'd choose Severus over you in a heartbeat." He dropped her arm in disgust and stormed away, leaving her still smirking inappropriately.

Perhaps, she pondered, she had gone a little too far but provoking Remus was steadily becoming her favourite activity, anything to produce the wonderfully unrestrained behaviour she'd seen from him after the full moon. Again for one thrilling moment she had thought he was about to drop the civilised façade and surrender to the mounting tension between them, instead he had stormed away in fury but she was fairly sure it had been a close run thing. It seemed the best way to get what she wanted from Remus was to keep pushing his buttons and wait until she hit the right one.

Druscilla sighed and meandered over to the Drawing Room where Kingsley Shacklebolt and Percy were waiting for her to return to the Ministry. "Well that was a productive meeting," she grumbled, her sourness at their lack of progress compounded by the realisation that after her 'button pushing' she was likely to have a couple of days when Remus would refuse to speak to her outside of Order business. Again.

Kingsley looked as unamused as she felt. "More and more of our 'meetings' are tending that way. Druscilla, we need a plan and it seems that the Order meetings are not the best place to attempt to form one." He stepped into the fireplace with a brusque, "Ministry of Magic," his annoyance showing most clearly in the abandonment of his usual manners that would have dictated he allow her to go first.

As she followed him through the floo system, Druscilla pushed thoughts of Remus from her head and forced herself back into a more professional mindset. She found Kingsley waiting for her, unfortunately so was the intern she had thought she'd palmed off on Percy. The girl seemed to be haunting her footsteps sometimes. She ignored her and addressed her colleague. "You're right. I think you and I need to have a further discussion, somewhere a little more private, when you have time," she glanced pointedly at Ellie the intern and Kingsley nodded. "Not now though, I'm too irritated to think straight. Ellie, be useful and bring me a coffee, I'll be in my office." Druscilla strode away as Kingsley quietly departed in the direction of the Auror offices.

Percy, who had been hovering quietly to one side, an uneasy eye on his employer, stepped into Ellie's path as she hurried to comply with Druscilla's orders. "Get her a decaf." His boss, he decided, was quite twitchy enough.

The young intern looked nervous, "Erm, I don't think she'll like that, sir."

"I'll take responsibility for it," Percy assured her, "Just leave explanations to me."

"Yes, sir." Still looking uncertain, the girl scurried away.

Five minutes later however Ellie arrived at the Professor's office to find her working alone, so much for Mr Weasley taking responsibility. She hovered nervously in the doorway for a moment before screwing up her courage and continuing in. "Here's your coffee, Professor."

"Thank you," Druscilla took the mug from the girl, who quickly made for the door, and took a sniff before frowning and sipping tentatively at the scalding hot liquid. "Wait a moment."

The intern turned back slowly in the doorway, she'd been so close to making her escape. "Yes, Professor?"

"Is this decaf?"

"Erm, yes, Professor."

"Did I ask for decaf?"

"No, Professor."

"Do I ever drink decaf?"

"No, Professor," the girl looked about to burst into tears but Druscilla remained unmoved.

"Go and get me an actual cup of coffee."

"Erm, I'm not supposed to do that, Professor."

"You're an intern, fetching me coffee is about the long and the short of your job description, why do you feel incapable of fulfilling it?" Druscilla's sweet tones belied the unpleasant nature of her words, confusing Ellie into a sudden desperate confession.

"I was told to get you decaffeinated!"

XXXXXXX

Returning to his boss' office with a pile of reports she had sent him for, Percy could hear raised voices from down the corridor and picked up the pace. He arrived in time to see their young intern backing out of Druscilla's office with a horrified expression and being swiftly followed by the contents of a mug of coffee. She squealed at the hot liquid, thankfully no longer scalding, and staggered backwards as the door magically slammed in her face.

Percy dropped his papers on to a nearby table and hurried over to the girl. "Are you alright?"

The poor girl was actually crying now, though thankfully it seemed more from shock and fright than actual pain. Percy cast a cooling spell on her just in case.

She shivered, "It's alright, it wasn't hot enough to hurt me." She sniffled again and bust into sobs, "I hate this place, Dad said it was a good foot in the door, that I should just do as I was told and it would help my career, but she's awful!"

Percy had no idea what to do, he shepherded her quickly into his office before anyone could hear her and gestured to the comfy armchair Druscilla had had moved in for when she was there. "Sit down." He considered conjuring her a drink but decided that might simply lead to more sobbing. She was still sobbing, sorry as he felt for her, Percy had no idea what to do.

"So what's this career you were hoping to have?" Everyone felt better discussing their career, he thought.

"I'm studying law," he discerned between sobs.

"Well then surely the Auror Office would have been a better placement for you." There was no way on earth Percy was letting her back in Druscilla's office, quite aside from the woman's obvious inability to behave herself this young girl seemed a bit too fragile to be dealing with the rigours of his boss.

"Civil law, not criminal law," she choked out.

The Auror office was probably a bad idea anyway. If coffee getting thrown at her made her cry the things she'd hear in the Auror office at present would likely leave her a sleepless wreck, they often left him that way. Percy hesitated for a moment, desperately racking his brain for someone at the Ministry who could help. "I don't suppose you're interested in muggle protection?" he asked hopefully.

She sniffled and after several tries got out the phrase, "My mother's a muggle."

Percy quickly crossed over to the fireplace and contacted the person he always remembered being the best at stopping him crying, back in the days when he'd allowed anyone to see him cry. "Dad, can you come up here if you've got a moment?"

The sight of his son's harassed face quickly decided Arthur. "Of course, I'll be right up. Everything ok, son?"

"I'm fine, I just think I need some help."

Not something Arthur could recall often hearing from Percy. "Ok, be right with you."

Percy had been right, his father took one look at the crying girl upon his arrival and seemed to know exactly what to do. He gallantly presented her with his clean handkerchief (Molly never let him out of the house without one of course) and conjured a glass of water, telling her to sip at it until she felt better. It seemed only a few minutes before he'd raised a watery smile from her and a chuckle at some of his worse jokes about flooding Percy's office. Percy had no idea how he'd done it.

"Dad, Ellie's studying civil law. I was wondering if maybe she would be able to spend a few days in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office with you?"

"Of course she could," Arthur beamed, "It will lovely to have such charming company." The girl gave her most genuine smile yet at Arthur's gracious manners. "Tebrin's running the Department for the Fair and Equal Treatment of Non-Human Magical Beings these days, I'm sure he'd be delighted to take her for a few days too," his dad suggested.

Tebrin Underwood was a kind, friendly young man who been at Hogwarts with Bill and was probably the perfect person to deal with a traumatised intern. He had a pathological need to be nice to everybody - right up until the moment he discovered any kind of abuse or discrimination, then it was apparently similar to being pursued by an unsettlingly polite bloodhound. God help Druscilla if he found out why the intern was traumatised in the first place, Percy thought.

"That sounds ideal." Druscilla could take care of herself, anything to get the poor young girl out of his office and off his boss' radar.

Percy didn't have long to relax after his father had ushered the girl away, he knew he had to go and talk to Druscilla. He also knew it was not going to be a pleasant conversation. It seemed however that his boss had been having the same thought as she wandered, as usual without bothering to knock, into his office looking decidedly displeased.

"Where have you been with those reports?"

He gestured to a pile on the side of his desk, "They're right there. You threw coffee over Ellie."

She grabbed the reports before responding. "I admit that might have been a tiny overreaction but it was decaf!"

Percy fought to remain calm. "I told her to bring you decaff."

"Why on earth would you do that?!"

Percy's calm gave way, "Because you're twitchy and on edge, as is evidenced by you throwing coffee over someone! You're lucky she's not filing a harassment suit!"

Bizarrely Druscilla calmed a little in the face of his bewildered anger and gave a snort of laughter, "Yeah, I never thought it'd be a woman doing that to me."

Percy gave her a decidedly unimpressed stare.

"You should not be refusing me caffeine at a time of war! Would you refuse Winston Churchill his cigars? Dumbledore his sherbet lemons?!"

"You are not Winston Churchill and you are certainly not Dumbledore and despite all indications to the contrary I don't think it's actually possible to be a sherbet lemon addict."

"Oh please, look at the man, he's one sherbet away from a 12 step programme."

Percy was finding it impossible to wrap his head around the women's cavalier attitude to having technically assaulted someone. The memory of so many of her previous heartless remarks, the ones about manipulating his sister's hospitalisation to her own good press not least of all, brought him to a sudden bitter calm. "And apparently without caffeine you're one step away from crossing the very few lines left that you haven't already crossed."

Again her response to him was to move in the opposite direction. As he became calm and firm, she became angry and demanding. "So get me a proper cup of coffee!"

Percy stood calm in the face of her frustrated yell, "No. Would you like a green tea?"

"No!" She looked hopeful for a moment, "How about a normal cup of tea?"

"No," he said firmly.

"It's got less caffeine than coffee," she wheedled.

"Not when you'd just drink ten times as much of it in a desperate bid to throw yourself back onto a caffeine high it hasn't. Do you not realise how serious what you did is? You could have really hurt her."

She looked almost abashed for a second and stopped shouting. "I could just fire you for disobeying orders you know."

"But you're not going to," Percy looked suspiciously like he was smirking.

"This new improved, confident Percy Weasley," she gestured wildly at him, "I'm not a fan!" She turned huffily on her heel and stormed out, presumably back to her own office.

Percy sighed and tried unsuccessfully to hold back a smile of amusement, it was nice to finally win one when it came to his employer. Better still it was nice to see there was a reachable conscience under the ever pricklier exterior.

Two minutes later his office door flew back open and Druscilla reappeared with a manic glint in her dark eyes. "You know what, Percy," she said sweetly, "You're right."

Oh dear, those words coming from his employer in that tone of voice never meant anything good.

"We do drink too much coffee."

We?

She picked up his half-full mug from the desk and tipped the cooling coffee into the nearest pot plant. "If I can't have it, neither can you. You drink just as much of the stuff as I do."

"I however have never thrown it at anyone!" Percy protested.

"Well I have now apologised for that and she has accepted my apology, though I hear she's no longer going to be working with us."

"I felt that was for the best."

"Probably, she seemed the sensitive type."

The only thing stopping Percy from criticising her was the fact he had had similar thoughts on the matter. "Certainly no room for that around here, right now," he muttered archly.

Druscilla gave a truly disturbing smile, "Not until I get some coffee there won't be."

XXXXXXX

Hope you enjoyed that, do let me know what you thought. I'll not give dates for the next update because I seem to be incapable of keeping to them but I have been writing much more lately so hopefully we can all take that as a good sign. I'm working on something else at the same time and I keep getting distracted but I'm beginning to really flesh out where this is going.

The something else, in case anyone's interested, is a sequel to Shades of Grey which has been in the works for quite some time. I won't be posting that until after this is done though so that I can try to keep this as the priority.

Thanks for reading. :)