So basically Marcus is me... or he's that guy who is standing there when two people who should date are standing together and just goes 'now kiss'. He ships them so hard. I ship them. How about you guys?

Disclaimer: If I owned HP universe, Colin Farrell would be back.

Chapter 12:

Percival had his arm entwined with Adriana's. He was very aware that her father was right behind them. He noticed that she was taller than normal. Ah, she was wearing heels. He thought that maybe he should feign illness. It wouldn't be difficult, after all, he could already feel his palms getting sweaty. It reminded him of his first date with John. He'd been so nervous and shy about it. He mentally stopped himself. This wasn't a date. This was just dinner with his home owner and her father. Completely normal. They reached the restaurant, which was a popular wizarding place. The door was hidden behind a brick wall. Adriana tapped her wand against it and a brick vanished. A pair of hazel eyes stared through.

"Booking for three at 6 o'clock under Arkin?" She mumbled. There was a nod and the wall split in two. They quickly stepped inside and found themselves surrounded by white-clad waiters.

"May we take your coats?" One waiter asked promptly. Percival and Marcus handed their coats over. Percival helped Adriana out of her coat. He handed it to the waiter and got his first good look at Adriana. He felt his jaw drop slightly as he took in her appearance. Her hair was loose and decorated with silver clips. Her silver eyes were highlighted with shimmering pink eye shadow. Her sleeveless, dark blue dress hugged her tightly until the waist, where the material seemed to change into something much more fluid.

"You look beautiful." Percival breathed before he could stop himself. She blushed and stared at the floor. Percival realised that the waiters were still there and they should go to their table. He offered Adriana his arm and escorted her to the table.

"They're all staring." She muttered, embarrassed. "I shouldn't have dressed so flashily." Percival pulled out her chair and seated her. He slipped into the seat on her left while Marcus sat on her right.

"No, you look beautiful." Percival repeated.

"Maybe you'll attract a fine young man." Marcus said jokingly.

"Dad!" Adriana said exasperatedly. Marcus winked at Percival. They all turned to their menus and ordered. Conversation started up. It was light hearted and friendly. Percival felt comfortable around Marcus. But he was distracted. He kept staring at Adriana for long periods of time, and then missed what was being said. He couldn't help it. When he'd met Adriana, he'd thought she wasn't bad looking. She was nice and funny, and that was far more important than her looks. But seeing her like this made it very difficult to ignore certain feelings that he had hoped would go away. He liked Adriana, he really did. But he didn't deserve her. She was far too good for him. He should probably put some distance between them, so it would hurt less when she found someone. A waitress came over with a fresh pitcher of water and some moron slapped her butt. She very nearly spilt the water on Adriana and Percival. He'd been staring at Adriana very intently and flicked his hand, stopping the water. It flew back into the jug. The waitress apologised and placed the jug on the table. She then proceeded to hex the moron and march back to the kitchens. Adriana laughed at the scene.

"Smooth." Marcus murmured to Percival, who wasn't entirely sure what just happened. They continued to dine until quite late, when the soft jazz music stopped and something exotic to Percival's ears started playing. "Ah, it's dancing time." Both Adriana and Percival stared at him in shock.

"Dancing time?" Adriana squeaked. "You know I don't dance Dad."

"Oh come on Ana, you used to dance with me all the time." Marcus said with a mischievous smirk. "I'm sure Percival can lead just fine." Percival, as it happened, did know how to dance. He didn't do it very often. Last time it had been John, and a very out of the way saloon. After the split, dancing had become a little painful. Adriana was staring at the table, her face bright red.

"Percival may not want to dance." She said meekly. And here was Percival's get out free card. Unfortunately, one look at Adriana suggested she did want to dance.

"I don't mind." He said honestly. Adriana gave him a look and he stood up, offering his hand to her. "Could be fun." They went to the dance floor just as a new song started. Again, it sounded exotic. Adriana seemed to recognise it and started to move. Percival danced with her. It was so very different from John. He'd liked very slow dances and an appropriate distance between them. Adriana seemed to have two dancing speeds; fast, fiery and passionate, or slow, calm and tense. She wove them together to suit the music. Percival found that this didn't hurt. He danced right along, pulling her around the floor, spinning her out and holding her close. Most of the other couples stopped to watch. At the end of the song he was holding her hand, his other hand wrapped around his waist. Their faces were so close, their noses were almost touching. He smiled at her, it was his biggest smile yet. She smiled back. He brought her hand up to his mouth and brushed his lips on her knuckles. In that moment, he didn't care who saw, because she was holding him, and that made everything alright.