After that day, Percy made no more attempts to really contact Penelope, cementing in his mind the assumption that she either did not want or did not need to talk to him. Percy felt more alone than he ever had in his life - so he did the only thing he knew how to, and threw himself into his work. He let the mundane tasks become his lifeline, moreso than he'd be proud to admit after the fact, but the routine became the driving factor in his life for awhile.

Percy missed Penny though, in ways that he hadn't been expecting. Not just for their would-have-been family; now that he was several months removed from their break-up he missed the little things about their relationship. They had at one point been friends, lovers, partners, and hoping to share a future; a part of him missed this prospect dearly. He wanted to know about her work with potions, tell her about things at the Ministry, share his fears after hearing his father was attacked during the winter despite his anger with his parents, celebrate the start of a new year. For a long time, a part of Percy was angry that Penelope had no regard for that, didn't believe that he wanted to get back to that. He did send her a card at Christmastime, but didn't even get a response. It took awhile, but Percy finally learned to ignore his past with Penny and began attempting to refocus his future alone.

Fast forward several months, to the summer of 1996. Voldemort was now acting in public, and yet despite the terror no one - not even Percy - could miss the appearance of a new shop in Diagon Alley. Percy was both absolutely flabbergasted and totally unsurprised at Fred and George's audacious business; it certainly made his avoidance of his family much more difficult. He began apparating directly to and from the entrance of the Ministry when going to work, rather than walking down Diagon Alley has he had been before. Percy could admit to himself that he had been wrong about Voldemort's return the year before; it still hurt though, how easily his parents and siblings had dismissed him and and he was not going anywhere near them if he could manage it. On September 1st, he did think wistfully of his youngest brother and sister, whom he was truly comforted to know would be safe at Hogwarts...but he could not be derailed by personal thoughts, and habitually went to work as usual. That afternoon, he decided to have lunch on the Muggle side of town - something he was choosing to do with increasing frequency as the Ministry and wizarding London grew more chaotic - but after placing an order at his favorite Indian cafe, he turned to wait and was faced with none other than Penelope Clearwater herself.

Well, not faced with, per se - she was sitting alone at a table across the room, having a curry. Percy, shamefully, almost turned and walked right out, his just-ordered lunch be damned. But as luck would have it Penny looked up a split-second before he looked away. Another split-second - as recognition, then doubt, then resolution flashed across her face - and Penny waved hesitantly. Percy slowly made his way over to her table.

After they exchanged possibly the most awkward greetings Percy could have imagined possible, he hesitated again - what in Merlin does a wizard say to his ex-girlfriend who suddenly says hello after months of assertively ignoring him? But then, surprisingly, Penny invited him to join her while he had his own lunch. Quite frankly, Percy did not know what to say to that, and in his indecisive silence she continued, "Perce...maybe I shouldn't have asked that just now, but I would like to talk to you. I know it's been a while, and that is my fault...but at least give me a chance to properly apologize."

Well, there never was such as thing as uncomfortable for Penny, Percy thought. So he sat, with his bowl of curry now in front of him, and let her speak.

Penelope told him how she had tried to cope after she miscarried, similarly to the way he had, by focusing on work. She had been able to get the apothecary job back, and for awhile got along alright, until the two-month anniversary of the miscarriage when she made a distracted and dangerous mistake and was suspended. "My boss told me I had to take "personal leave" after that. She said she wanted to keep me as an employee, that I had potential, but couldn't afford to have me making careless errors. And I understood, I knew it too, because I could feel myself getting mentally clouded by emotions. And then further frustrated at myself because of that. My mum had already been threatening to make me go see a friend of hers who is a Muggle mental healer, when she realized I did not want to talk to her and was not talking to you."

Here, Percy could not help but frown slightly, before wiping his expression clean again. Penny could have come to him, talked to him, she just chose not to. Perhaps, though, an arbitrary voice was what she had needed, Percy internally reminded himself.

She went on, "I thought mum was completely nutters - why would I want to talk to a stranger if I couldn't even bring myself to talk to you? - but after the work accident I knew I had to do something. It's interesting, the way muggles do mental healing, not like anything I have heard of in the magical world. My mum's friend, her job is called "psychologist" and she just made me talk. She talked so that I wanted to keep talking. I didn't think it was even possible, but it did help me."

As Penelope continued to speak, Percy listened and nodded along. He smiled at the right times, he made gestures in agreement and understanding when appropriate, but as he regarded her from across the table he realized he did not really have much to say. He genuinely was happy that she had made peace with herself, that she had forgiven herself for the miscarriage that only she had blamed herself for in the first place. However, he still did not know what to say; Percy had never been angry with her for the miscarriage, and over time he had even forgiven both her and him for their initial breakup. He could not deny the little flame of resentment that still lingered from her total rejection of his existence after the loss of the baby, but rather than allow this to bubble to the surface he let Penny control the conversation. Percy was glad that they had been given this chance for a cordial resolution, but his heart knew in the moment that he and Penny would never again be more - just the cordiality of former classmates. He had loved her, yes, and he would always hold memories of their relationship, romantic or otherwise, very dearly, but when they parted ways that afternoon, Percy honestly did not expect to hear much of Penelope Clearwater again.