Oooo some drama in this chapter, which is a little short. And a mystery at the end *cackle*, I wonder who.
Love you guys so much for the reviews, I love them. They motivate me.
Disclaimer: Somehow, I don't think JK and I share the same wavelength on Percival.
Chapter 14:
"Percival, can I ask you something?" Adriana asked. Percival looked up from his book.
"What?" He asked.
"I was just wondering, why don't you talk about your parents?" Adriana asked. Tact was not her strong suit. She didn't really want to manipulate Percival into an answer either. Her question seemed to have shocked Percival into silence.
"Because there isn't much to say." He said eventually. "They were my parents. Why the sudden interest?" Adriana tried to think of a response that didn't make her sound like she liked him a lot.
"Because you just met my dad, and he's probably told you more than you ever wanted to know about me." She said with a shrug. "I'm just curious." Percival stared at her as if he was trying to detect any hints of a lie.
"They were just normal, average parents." Percival said. As soon as the words left his lips he wished he could take them back. The way he'd said them sounded an awful lot like the way he said 'I'm fine' when he really wasn't. And Adriana could usually tell when he was lying.
"Really?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. Percival swallowed. He really did not want to talk about this.
"What are you expecting me to say?" He asked a little snappily. Adriana looked a bit taken aback by his tone. Another sign that something was wrong.
"I was thinking you'd talk about them." She said. "Maybe give me some little stories or something."
"Well there aren't any." Percival said curtly. There was no way he could talk to Adriana about his parents. She wouldn't understand.
"Percival." Adriana said sharply. "Do we need to talk?" Percival did not want to talk. He did not want to discuss anything to do with his parents. He'd much rather Adriana dropped it so he could go back to pretending everything was fine and dandy.
"No." He said. "They were parents. Normal parents."
"I'm beginning to think you and I have very different definitions of normal and fine." Adriana said hotly.
"Maybe it's a culture thing." Percival snapped back. This is not what he wanted to happen.
"I don't think so." Adriana said. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Just tell me something about them. Anything."
"Like what?" Percival asked.
"I don't know. What did they do for a living?" Adriana asked. Percival thought that was a fair question. No implications of anything.
"They worked for MACUSA. My mother was an undersecretary and my father was head of the research department." He said. Adriana nodded.
"I don't you have any stories. Like the one about the cookie plant." She prompted. Percival shook his head. "No sweet stories? Silly ones? Cute ones?"
"None." Percival said roughly.
"That sounds very dull." Adriana said. Percival snapped his book shut.
"Not everyone has wonderful, colourful upbringings." Percival shot back. Adriana had narrowed eyes.
"I'm not asking about wonder I'm asking about joy." She said. "Happy memories of you and them."
"I don't know any." Percival said, thoroughly annoyed. Adriana looked shocked.
"Then it can't have been that happy." She said as a matter of fact.
"Of course it was happy." Percival insisted.
"Then tell me a happy memory." Adriana insisted. Percival couldn't give her an answer. His mind was drawing a blank. He was sure there was one somewhere.
"I can't think of one." He said. "I'm stressed." He defended. Adriana didn't believe him at all. "They were my parents. I loved them." He was getting a little heated. "And they loved me."
"Do you know that or are you just trying to reassure yourself?" Adriana asked quietly. Percival didn't answer. He'd had enough. He jumped to his feet, internally seething. It wasn't any of her business. She didn't need to know anything. He marched out of the room, summoning his coat. Adriana was right behind him, calling his name. He ignored her and stormed right out of the house. He kept marching, a cold fury possessing him. He didn't normally wander around the area. In fact, he rarely left the house. The small radius was comforting. Easy to understand. He found a park and sat on a bench. The longer he sat, the worse he felt. The anger was fading away. He knew enough about Adriana to know that she hadn't meant anything cruel by what she said. She wasn't pompous, arrogant or even scathing. She honestly worried about him. She cared. And as much as he didn't want to talk about his family, he shouldn't have been so snappish. Adriana was probably having a fit, realising that he'd just left when he was supposed to be in her care. He sighed. People were complicated. He should just go back and apologise, if he could remember how to apologise. He heard someone move behind him. And a wand poke at the back of his neck.