Hope you guys are enjoying the story!
Special thanks to Avanell for having such great eyes :-)

-Jazz

In Percy's 24 years of life, he had never met a woman like Audrey Lorraine Carizzales. They had worked together for a year now, and it had been 365 of the most peaceful days of his life. When he said peaceful, he was referring to the comfort of knowing she was going to be around, not the way they regarded each other. Oh no; there was nothing peaceful about them. Percy was very particular and strong-willed, and Audrey had little quirks that really got under his skin. She was always tapping her foot, as if she couldn't wait to be done with whatever she was doing. She had a way of talking in circles that were so crazy they made sense and she loved to argue. Audrey could argue down to her last breath that the sky was purple if she wanted to, and you really had no choice but to agree. She always meant well, and it was almost impossible to stay mad at her for longer than 20 minutes.

He was coming upon minute 15 on being angry in the aftermath of an argument they seemed to be having a lot lately. Audrey was set on getting Percy to reconnect with his family. She had always been one of those girls that was close to her parents, and she couldn't understand how he could distance himself from his family members. She just didn't get it. He had told her all of the things he'd been through with his family, and her only response had been 'but they're your family'. Truth be told, Percy had never felt less like a Weasley in his life. He was ashamed of the person he had let himself become back then. Granted, he had changed a lot since then, but it still hurt to think about the past.

"They're not going to give up on you." She said in a small voice. "You're trying to push them away, make them hate you; they won't do it."

"How do you know that?" he asked, giving up on keeping things together. If she wanted to go there, he'd go there.

"Because they're your family Percy. Don't you get what that means? They're your flesh and blood and they're here for you always. Even when you leave them, or fight, or upset them, your family will be there."

"They shouldn't. They should just forget about me. I've haven't talked to a single one of them in over a year and I still get bloody letters from the lot of them. They insist on treating me like family Audrey, I don't deserve a family."

"Everyone deserves a family Percy, and you have one. If you think that what you're doing is going to make them forget you, you're wrong. You're the only one that's going to get hurt. You're missing everything Percy, do you even know what's going on with them? You missed Bill and Fleur's wedding last year, you weren't at Ginny's graduation- did you know that Ron and Hermione got married? The two of them got married, and his brother wasn't even there to support him. How do you think that made them feel?" Hearing all of the things he had missed over the years, Percy realized that one, she had been reading his letters and two, even though he hadn't been there, their lives had gone on. They had moved on, which is what he thought he'd wanted, but he didn't feel the way he thought he would. They were growing and and living life, while he seemed to be the only one burdening himself with the mistakes of his past. "Do you even think about them at all?"

"You think I'm not aware of what I've done? I think about it every day Audrey. Every single day."

"Then why don't you do something about it? You act like you don't care." she pressed.

"Why do you care?" he screamed. "It's none of your business what I do with my family."

"I made it my business because I care about you Percy. I care and worry about you so much-"

"Well don't!"

"Ok, you don't get to tell me whether or not I can care about you. I care; deal with it."

"You're so frustrating! Why can't you just let it go?"

"I'll let it go when you stop running from your past. Why won't you let anyone help you?"

"I don't need help!"

"Yes. You. Do! I'm here with you every day trying to be as supportive as possible but you make it so damn hard! You push everybody away with no regard to their feelings, but I'm not going to be one of them. I'm here for you Percy, whether you like it or not." she said defiantly, before her expression turned soft. "Let me be here for you."

Percy let out a huge sigh. She looked hurt, which caught him a little bit off guard. Fighting with her never got him anywhere; you'd think he'd have learned by now. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"I'll forgive you as long as you promise to stop being so impartial to the idea of seeing your family again."

"I just…I don't know." He said defeated. This was the most he'd ever let himself think about all of his family issues, or feel much of anything at all, and it didn't feel great.

"Will you please just consider going to talk to them? You can't keep doing this to yourself; it kills me to see you all alone. Please?"

"I'll think about it." He answered. She smiled sadly before coming to him and kissing him on the cheek. Without really thinking about it Percy kissed her. The feel of her lips on his sent sparks of electricity through his body. It was like the world had stopped around them and there was only her and him. The kiss was gentle and passionate and exquisite; there was nothing else like it. He poured everything he had into that kiss; every fear, every joy, every insecurity, and every confusing, new and frustrating emotion she had brought out of him was put into that kiss. To his surprise he felt her soft, full lips respond to his with as much, if not more, urgency and understanding. If it wasn't for a knock on his door, Percy didn't think he'd ever let go of the girl in his arms. She smiled at him shyly before fixing her already perfect hair and opening the door.

"Hello Syndal, may I help you with something?" Audrey asked calmly, as if nothing just happened between them.

"Sorry to bother you Audrey, Mr. Weasley." One of the new interns said as she entered the office. "The minister needs you both to sign these forms stating that you are aware of the new workplace relationship policy. The decree is in full effect as of today; do either of you have any questions?"

"No." they responded in unison.

"Very well then. Have a good day." The door closed behind the intern and the two of them looked at each other apologetically. Neither of them was going to have a good day.