22. Clean Slates
Audrey's one day off to mourn had turned into two days.
So, for that reason, she made a point of arriving extra early to training the day she returned. She hadn't even had much of a chance to utter more than a "good morning" to Erin, who seemed to be forgiving her slowly but surely. Audrey could tell she was still a little miffed about being left out of the loop, and she always seemed to be on the verge of blurting something out before stopping herself.
However, she was no longer grumbling and ignoring Audrey, and that was a relief. She would really need Erin's help with sorting out everything with Percy. If it could even be sorted out, that is.
Audrey had two reasons backing her decision to not dive head-first into an apology. One, she hated doing things when her mind was emotionally charged and, frankly, dealing with your younger brother's death was as emotionally charged as one could get. Two, she hated doing things that didn't project a very desirable outcome. Each time that Audrey played the conversation she had had with Percy over in her head, she tried to put herself in Percy's shoes as a way of figuring out how her apology would go down. Unfortunately, she really couldn't imagine him forgiving her.
Yes, Audrey had decided to take more risks in matters of the heart and whatnot, but people certainly didn't change overnight. So for the time being, Audrey decided that it would be best to take time to plan out her actions - this time being mindful of others' feelings - and focus on her training.
That day, the trainees were redirected to one of the rooms in the Auror Office that looked an awful lot like their classrooms at Hogwarts. The room was empty when Audrey arrived, so she took one of the front seats and rested her forearms on the wooden table in front of her.
Not a minute later, the door banged open and Audrey swivelled in her seat to see who entered. Not surprisingly, Halloway strode into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Audrey, but quickly averted his gaze and continued making his way to the desk at the front of the room. The scarred Auror shuffled around some papers on the desk and Audrey decided to return to looking down at her hands and maintain the silence.
"Callaghan," Halloway eventually said with a grunt.
"Yes sir?" Audrey prompted as she looked up at him with a blank look on her face. In her mind, she was donning her armour in preparation for whatever he had to say that time.
Despite all of that preparation, his next words still shocked her.
Halloway looked up at her with the same glower he usually had, but his voice was softer than it usually was as he said, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Audrey stared back at him, unable to think of anything to say amidst her shock. Halloway had always shown her nothing but distaste, yet here he was expressing his condolences. Audrey braced herself, half-expecting him to add some brutal retort.
Probably sensing her apprehension, Halloway let out a tired sigh before adding, "I knew your father, you know? Worked with him - brilliant Auror. When he resigned, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Felt like he was turning tail and joining the comforts of You-Know-Who's ranks just because he could. Seemed like a Slytherin thing to do. But judging by his involvement with the Order, I was clearly wrong."
"Oh," Audrey managed to get out. "Well... thank you. I appreciate it... as I'm sure my father would have."
Halloway simply nodded and returned to his papers. After another moment of silence, a question popped into her mind. It made perfect sense why Halloway knew about her brother - that had been in her letter requesting absence - but how did he know about her father being involved with the Order? That was what the Death Eater had said during the attack, but Audrey had excluded it from her statement.
"Sir, if I may ask," Audrey started, "how exactly did you hear about - about my father and his involvement with the Order?"
Halloway looked up with confusion clouding his face, as if he had not expected her to ask that. "Well, this is rather embarrassing, but - " Halloway cut himself off with a wince. "Initially, I approached Head Auror Robards about your absence and - and he made me see sense. Turns out he was fully aware of your father's role in the war."
Why would he - oh. Audrey nodded slowly in understanding. Halloway probably thought she was making up the whole dead brother thing to get out of training and wanted to report her for it. She decided against voicing that - judging by the uncomfortable look on Halloway's face, Robards had done a brilliant job of setting him straight.
"Thank you for your condolences," Audrey repeated quietly.
Halloway's lips set themselves into a line - Audrey assumed it was supposed to resemble a smile - and returned to shuffling his papers.
As people started to file into the classroom and the lesson on poisons and antidotes commenced, Audrey finally felt a small smile break through. If anything, her Auror training would be more bearable, and a small victory like that felt nicer than she thought it would.
"You're still not okay."
Erin's gaze shifted from the magazine in front of her to Audrey. The two were enjoying a quiet evening of relaxation, and a much needed one at that. There hadn't been much relaxing during Audrey's two days off, and now that she was back to work, it only seemed fitting to add a bit of normalcy to their life. So, the two flatmates decided to lounge on the couch in a nice silence - Erin with her racing broom catalogue and Audrey with a history book.
However, Audrey could tell that Erin was not relaxed in the slightest. Aside from the fact that she was clenching her catalogue with inhuman strength, Audrey could also hear her teeth grinding from time to time.
"I'm fine," Erin replied, although it sounded very defensive.
"I'm sure you are," Audrey agreed, her tone slightly sarcastic. "Forgot that teeth grinding translated into 'perfectly stellar.' Do go on."
Erin rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Well, you can't exactly blame me, can you?" she grumbled as she returned to her magazine. "Told him and not me. Bloody ridiculous, I tell you."
Audrey frowned in confusion. "Told who?" she asked carefully. What in Merlin's name is she talking about? Audrey wondered.
Erin looked up with wide eyes and mouth agape. "I - uh... no one. I was just being silly."
Something was definitely up. "Erin," Audrey started as she tried her hardest to stay calm. "Told who?" she repeated slowly.
Erin winced before sighing in defeat and muttering, "Percy."
Now it was Audrey's turn to look shocked. "How did you find out about that?" she asked in disbelief.
Erin scowled at Audrey. "You really should give me more credit," she stated. After a short pause, she added, "He came over to talk to you while you were in Hogsmeade. Oh, zut! I wasn't supposed to tell you!"
"He... came over?" Audrey asked with a small frown. "Why?"
"Said he wanted to sort things out, or something," Erin muttered as she avoided Audrey's gaze.
That was a clear indicator that she knew more than she was letting on, but Audrey decided not to push it. She did suspect that Erin had a good idea of the argument that had conspired between her and Percy, anyways. It was already shocking enough that Percy had decided to come to her, since she was quite convinced that she had mucked that up beyond reparation. With this revelation, however, Audrey felt just a little more confident that she could at least go through with her apology.
"Why weren't you supposed to tell me?" Audrey asked.
Erin shrugged. "I don't know. Had his reasons, I guess," she answered vaguely. "It's not like anyone tells me anything, anyways."
Audrey couldn't help but wince at Erin's reply. It definitely tapped into her internal reservoir of guilt, although she wasn't quite sure why. "Erin, what's wrong?" she asked softly.
Erin sighed and finally met Audrey's gaze. "It's just... you have Percy, tu sais? And even though you messed things up, you still have a chance, so I just - " she cut herself off suddenly and shook her head before continuing. "C'est stupide, but I feel like I'm being replaced, d'accord?"
"Replaced?" Audrey exclaimed as she straightened out in her seat. "Are you mad? I can't replace you!"
"Vraiment? Because that's not what recent events show," Erin stated with a raised eyebrow.
That shut Audrey up pretty quickly. She had never thought that Erin would feel replaced, and Audrey never imagined she would do that to Erin. They were practically family, and in Audrey's mind, Erin was irreplaceable. However, Erin had a point. When Audrey was faced with the startling truth of her brother's situation, she turned to the person she had only known for a few months and hadn't even told Erin a thing.
"Exactement," Erin said after a long moment of silence. She shook her head and let out a shaky sigh. "I don't mean to sound... jalouse, but it hurts. I just wish you'd at least told me something."
"Erin, I can't replace you. Honestly," Audrey said kindly. When Erin gave her a skeptical look, she added, "It doesn't matter if we live out our lives as single cat ladies or both end up getting married, because you are still my sister. Besides, there will always be certain things that I can only tell you about."
"Yeah? Like what?" Erin asked with a slight smile.
"Like sex, you bint," Audrey replied with a grin. "Come on, use that head of yours."
That got a laugh out of Erin. "Okay, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, but you can't really blame me," she said.
"No, I can't," Audrey agreed. "I know I messed up with... everything that's happened lately. But trust me, Erin - you'll always be important to me."
Erin smiled gratefully and quietly said, "Merci. Although I am a bit happy that you opened up to Percy so easily. Kind of shows me that you're changing for the better."
"Lots of good that did me," Audrey grumbled.
"Yeah, it did!" Erin exclaimed. "You learned how to trust, for Merlin's sake. Sure, you messed it up a bit near the end, but you did a bang-up job up to that point, and no one just goes - poof! All changed! It takes time."
"I guess so," Audrey said with a nod. "I wish I could fix it somehow, honestly."
"You can," Erin stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Go over to his flat and apologize. You're a bloody adult, Audrey."
"You think I should go to him?" Audrey asked skeptically.
"Yes, I do," Erin replied. "I might still feel a bit hurt about you keeping me out of the loop, but I don't own you, now do I? And like I said: he helped you for the better. Maybe you did the same for him."
Audrey bit her lip nervously as her mind weighed out the pros and cons of going to see Percy in that moment. It was certainly a rash, spur-of-the-moment decision. She didn't have a well-structured and thought-out apology in the slightest. It simply wasn't something that Audrey Callaghan would do.
But that was sort of the point, wasn't it? She was trying to break out of her old, secretive habits. Audrey wanted to learn how to trust people and how to be selfless.
"I think I have an apology to make."
Percy entered his flat with a tired sigh. Work had been relentlessly tiring, although he should have seen that coming. Being promoted to Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Transportation wasn't supposed to be a downgrade in difficulty. It wasn't a department that he had ever considered working in before, but now that he was there, he found that he was enjoying it. It kept Percy on his toes and it certainly wasn't dull.
As he hung his coat, Percy heard the familiar tapping of an owl's beak on the window. He opened the window to let the bird in, a little surprised to not recognize it as a Ministry owl or Errol. However, as he sam Ginny's name in the sender address, he soon realized it was a Hogwarts owl.
Percy tore open the envelope and pulled out the parchment. Ginny always sent rather entertaining letters and he as happy that she had at least forgiven him enough to write to him while she was at Hogwarts.
Dearest Percy,
Let me tell you something about the chain of gossip. Telling Oliver Wood anything is as good as screaming it from the rooftop of Gringotts. Why, you ask? Because Oliver Wood will then proceed to go out with his Quidditch Cup-winning team, get pissed, and tell everyone your secrets. Namely, one Angie Johnson, who owled to confirm whether this was the same Percy Weasley, by the way.
Percy paused. This was most certainly not one of Ginny's usual letters and he felt an uncertain feeling settle in the put of his stomach. He considered burning the letter right then and there. After all, ignorance was bliss. Percy tried to think optimistically, though. Perhaps Oliver had told them of his promotion.
Unfortunately, I could not confirm that because YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU SLEPT WITH AUDREY. You have fantastic taste in women, by the way. That's changed considerably, in my humble opinion.
Percy scratched out the mental note of remaining friends with Oliver and replaced it with one to kill him. Honestly, he had no restraint.
I also heard that you both royally messed up on the whole relationship thing, so I suppose I should say something loving and encouraging - being your sister and all.
Well, you know how Mum always kept sending you Christmas sweaters, even if you sent them back? Whatever weird phase Audrey is going through, if you care for her, pull a Mum. Don't send her Christmas sweaters, of course - that's bloody ridiculous, actually. But find some way to show her that you'll be there for her no matter what. If you want to, that is.
Anyways, I expect payment for all of this good advice.
See you Easter weekend,
Ginny
Percy stared at the parchment in his hands and reread the letter a few times, letting the words sink in. He had been racking his mind for a way to show Audrey that he understood her and he didn't mind her leaning on him, but was it really as simple as Ginny was saying?
It worked for you, didn't it? a part of Percy's brain reminded. Even if it wouldn't work for Audrey, it was certainly worth a shot. He knew she was a practical person, and he would have to give her something that they had in common. Something that they shared.
History books! Percy ran to his room with a jolt and scanned his bookshelf. He briefly caught sight of the book they had first discussed - The Evolution of Medieval Duelling - and couldn't help but smile at the memory. Percy continued searching until he saw one that he had enjoyed a lot. The Historical Progression of Spell-Making.
Without a second thought, Percy grabbed that book off of the shelf and went to put on his coat. He had no idea what he was going to say, but it would come to him. At least he hoped it would. Giving himself a decisive nod, Percy opened his door to leave his flat.
And nearly ran into Audrey.
Percy stared back at Audrey, who was standing on his doorstep with a hand raised, in shock. He figured he was mirroring her own slack-jawed look, actually, and he had to hold on to the book in his hands a little tighter so he wouldn't drop it. Percy did not expect her to come to him - she sounded very adamant about keeping their distance. But she was certainly there.
"Look, I need you to just let me talk and then I'll be on my way, all right?" Audrey said after a long moment of shocked silence.
It took Percy a moment to process her words before he could reply, "Sure. Go ahead."
"Okay," Audrey said with a nod. "Honestly, I don't expect this to change anything, or you to forgive me, or us to go back to what we had before, but... I need to say this. And I need you to know this.
"I was wrong. Dead wrong. I got scared that I was misplacing my trust, I guess, and I tried to turn the situation around so it made me feel like I was doing the right thing, but that didn't change the fact that I was really just thinking about myself. What I regret the most, though, is that I ever doubted that I could trust you. How could I possibly think you'd let me down when you confided in me just as much as I confided in you? In retrospect, I don't even understand myself."
Audrey paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, and thank you," she said sincerely. "Thank you because... I would have never realized any of this if it wasn't for you."
She gave a small nod as she finished her spiel and looked at Percy expectantly. He seemed to have a stunned look on his face, his mind probably trying to process her words. But the longer Audrey waited in silence, the less confident she felt.
After a while, she finally said, "Right, well, like I said... I'll be on my way. You have places to be, as I can see."
Audrey turned to leave, but immediately felt a hand softly gripping her wrist. She looked up at Percy and tried to maintain a blank look.
"I was going to see you," Percy said. He reached out his other hand and handed her a book. Audrey surveyed the title for a moment before looking back up at Percy with a look of confusion. He quickly added, "It's one of my favourites, and I thought you'd appreciate it."
"Why would you want to give this to me?" Audrey asked cautiously.
"Because I remembered the way your whole face lit up when you talked about history books, as well as how calming it was to just listen to you talk," he replied honestly. "I wanted you to have this because... even if things won't go back to the way they were, like you say, then I'd like you to have something to remember me by. Because I never minded being there for you."
Audrey nodded slowly as she carefully took the book from Percy. She kept her eyes trained on the cover instead of meeting his eyes. She remembered that evening, as well. It was the first time that they realized how much they had in common and how wrong they had been about each other. It was the first time that Audrey trusted Percy.
"You know, it's not necessarily a bad thing if we don't go back to what we had before," Percy stated suddenly.
Audrey looked up at him with a confused frown. "How do you figure that?" she asked as she was starting to notice that his hand was still holding on comfortably to her wrist.
"Things don't have to be the same to be good," he said. Then, he smiled lightly and added, "You know, I've heard of this great tea shop in Diagon Alley. I think it's a brilliant place to discuss literature. Wouldn't you say the same?"
A smile slowly graced Audrey's features as she realized what Percy was hinting at. Maybe they couldn't pick up from where they had left off, but nothing was keeping them from having a fresh start. Getting to know each other again. Cleaning the slates.
"I think I've heard of this tea shop, and I would most certainly say the same," Audrey replied.
Percy's smile widened as he stepped out of his flat and closed the door behind him. He shifted his hand so he was holding Audrey's as he asked, "Would you like to lead the way then?"
Audrey simply nodded in reply and the two made their way out of the apartment building.
And, just like that icy day in January, a woman trying to make amends and a man seeking good company poured their hearts out to each other over a warm cup of tea.
First of all, I am thrilled that I finished this up before school started up again.
Second of all, I'm not quite sure if some of you expected it to end here, but I chose to conclude like this because 1) I'm a big fan of Freytag's pyramid, 2) Everything after this is pretty much history, and 3) I really wanted to tie the ending back to that evening in the tea shop.
So yes, that's the tale of Percy and Audrey! Thank you so much for reading, and I am eternally grateful for all of those that have reviewed and helped me perfect this story. Big thanks especially to: Summer Leigh Wind, ChatterChick, nymphxdora, The Lady Arturia, and Nightmare Prince!
Until the next story... :)