A/N: I do not own or profit from Harry Potter.

Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading!

Chapter 11: Next Day

There was an odd rustling noise invading Audrey's subconscious. She pushed it away, tried to deny it, because she was warm and it was comfortable...kind of...and she wasn't ready to get up just yet.

But the rustling noise persisted, and she slowly became aware that she really wasn't that comfortable at all the way she was lying...or sitting. She reluctantly pushed her eyes open and tried to clear her fogged mind.

Percy's round, ugly glasses were only centimeters from her face. She realized suddenly that they were closer than they had been during the night. She could feel his breath on her skin. Either he had scooted closer, or she had. Either way...it was warm, and semi-comfortable...and he smelled, unsurprisingly, like tea. She waited a long moment without moving, not quite willing to admit that she had fallen asleep on Percy's couch.

The rustling noise came again, and she at last raised her head from it's sideways position, feeling a sharp pain shoot up her neck. Oh, sleeping sideways with her head against the couch had been a mistake.

Her eyes fell at once upon the source of the persistent noise. An owl was perched not far away, his amber eyes fixed on her, his wings held out. From his firm gaze, she might have thought he was deliberately trying to wake her up. Perhaps he was.

The owl rattled his wings again, and finally let out a loud hoot.

"Sssh!" Audrey hissed at the bird, then glanced back at Percy, whose eyes opened and found her quickly enough.

The two stared at one another for a long, awkward moment. It again occurred to Audrey how close they were. Dangerously close, actually. Her head had been practically on his shoulder when she woke. She moved back quickly enough, disappointed to find that the end of the couch was not as warm as her spot in the middle had been.

Percy rolled his neck (no doubt he, too, had a muscle cramp), and readjusted his glasses.

A pause ensued. Audrey avoided looking at him. "I...must have fallen asleep." She noted that the thick book she'd been reading had slipped to the floor. After a moment she scooped it up and set it on the table.

"Yes." Percy's voice was slightly bleary. "Yes, as did I." He rumpled his red hair, and yawned. "My apologies." He didn't seem to be feeling the awkwardness of the situation. She'd never had him down for that type, but he seemed to be put off not at all. He squinted at his watch for a long moment before the owl hooted again.

"All right." He tossed back at it, pushing himself off the couch. "I suppose if you wanted to go and clean up in the bathroom." He looked down at her, still curled among the cushions.

She ran a hand through her hair and nodded shyly. "That'd be fine. I'm sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to fall asleep."

He shrugged as if he really didn't mind. "No matter. Bathroom's through there." He pointed at the door which she presumed led to his bedroom, then led her across and glanced inside. "Right. The door on the left there."

She slipped inside, getting only a quick impression of his bedroom. From what she saw, it's walls were lined with shelves exactly like those in the living room.

Audrey shut the door and again ran a hand through her rumpled hair, knowing she had to have an unsightly bedhead. She took a moment to glance over the small room. It was hardly surprising that the bathroom was clean, unadorned, and inextravagant. The only thing, it seemed, which Percy took pains to beautify were his books.

Audrey turned to the mirror and stifled a groan. She truly hadn't meant to stay all night. But she had (falling asleep on his couch, honestly!), and now she was a mess. Her hair was, indeed, a sight to behold, and her makeup had settled and caked unattractively on her skin. She reached for the soap.

After remedying her appearance as much as she could, she tugged out her phone and checked…yes, indeed, her mother had called her, several times. She returned the call, and left a message, grateful that Lucy did not answer the phone. She really would have a hard time innocently explaining this at the moment. Especially, she thought as she dried her face, especially considering that her mother already liked Percy.

Not that she didn't like Percy. He was nice...and sweet...and as her tired mind had pointed out to her last night, he was quite different, quite unexpected, and quite...well, almost providential. She fumbled in her purse for a moment and tugged out a tube of concealer, then glanced from it back up to her reflection in the mirror. "Oh bugger." She tossed all of her cosmetics back into her bag. She could go without makeup for now.

But then...there was Percy. What would he think if she came out without any makeup on? She examined her face in the mirror, searching for flaws or spots.

But why did she care? It wasn't as if he liked her, admired her...

Of course, if she were hypothetically interested in getting him to like her, making herself up was definitely the wiser course.

Though he had just woken up next to her (but not like that...). So he'd already seen her at her near-worst.

Her reflection scowled and she dropped the concealer again. Bother. She'd go without, and if Percy thought she looked like a mess, he could stuff it. Not that she didn't care what Percy thought of her (she did), but it was early morning and he wasn't exactly looking gorgeous himself. She ran her hands through her hair trying to straighten it out.

Though of course, Percy might actually be fairly cute-looking if it weren't for the glasses.

Not that that mattered. Not that she was thinking about that.

She cleaned her teeth and cleared her mind as best she could and opened the door again march back out to the kitchen.

.

Percy laced his fingers through his hair, staring at his kitchen. There was a woman. In his apartment. At six in the morning. And he had no breakfast.

Why in the name of Gandalf's nosehairs did she have to fall asleep? With him? On his couch? Of course she hadn't meant anything by it, an innocent accident. But it had been...nice. He hadn't had a nightmare, though he reasoned to himself that that might have nothing to do with her. It could be a coincidence. Possibly. Probably not, but all that was beside the point.

He gathered his scattered thoughts. There was a woman in his apartment. This was definitely a situation to which he was not accustomed. As a matter of fact, it might be a first...well, there was Penny, but that had been different. She and he were friends now, and she'd just needed a place to hide.

For the love of all unicorns, Weasley, stop drifting off the point! What was he to do?

His eyes fell on an unfamiliar brown sack lying on the counter. Two mugs were set out beside it. Percy crossed the room, tugged a note off the package, muttered 'Lumos', and read the familiar writing.

Perce: The couch? Honestly? You could've at least moved it to the bedroom. I ate all your food the other day, and I figured you might need something for today, so I got this. To eat. Have fun. George.

He tossed it down on the counter. There went his privacy. If this got back to his mother (of course it would), he'd never hear the end of it.

But still, the gesture was appreciated. George, even in his state, had bothered to think of him, tried in some small way to pay back the brother who owed the most to the family. It was a good deal more than Percy had expected of him just yet at this stage of what was going to be a long mourning period.

He ripped open the package and found inside the makings of a simple breakfast. Bless George. He tugged out his wand and set to it, careful to check that Audrey was still in the bathroom and didn't catch him doing magic. As long as she was here, he'd have to use that odd-fangled 'electricity' that muggles were used to, so in spite of his preference for magical lighting and services, he reluctantly 'turned on' the light fixture stuck to the center of the ceiling. Barbaric.

Audrey emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later and Percy noted that her blouse was unbuttoned just slightly. He tugged himself away, refocused his thoughts yet again that morning, reminded himself she'd come here on business, and greeted her politely. "It's only six, so I thought you'd want something before you headed back."

She smiled a little shyly, and he could tell she hadn't been in situations like this often, either. "Thank you, Percy." She hesitated, then reached for the carton of eggs. "Why don't I do this and you go clean up? No offense, but I think I might be the better cook of the two of us."

He glanced at the pan in front of him and relinquished his position at once. "I think you just might be." He acquiesced truthfully. "I'll be a minute."

"Take your time." They were able to slip into some semblance of casuality as Audrey focused herself on something she knew very well how to deal with; the preparation of food.

Audrey slid the plates onto the counter and tugged up a stool there, as the flat had no dining area. The owl was still watching her, it's eyes rolling around occasionally to rest on the food. She tugged off a breadcrust and tossed it to the bird, making sure Percy didn't catch her first.

"Don't feed the bird." She jumped as he came up behind her, and pushed herself off the counter.

"Sorry. Yours?"

"Yes." He reached into a jar. "He's just eaten, I imagine, but a treat won't matter much." The owl caught the treat in midair, and Percy noticed the letter inside the bird's pouch. He tugged it out and flipped it over.

"Is that a letter?" Audrey took a bite of her eggs, watching curiously.

"It is indeed." He responded in a tone that might have been sarcastic.

She mulled the question in her mind before asking, "And do you often receive letters by owl in the morning?"

He gave her a long look through his glasses. "It saves on postage." Was all he said.

She pretended at least for the moment to be satisfied with that as an answer.

.

Percy closed the door after Audrey and put his forehead against it.

Oh, hippogriff pies. As if he needed one more thing to complicate his life.

He was not going to become attached to an ignorant muggle-raised pureblood squib whose father had murdered dozens of people and tried to kill his sister. He simply wasn't. Forget all the pluses, there were far too many of them anyways. She was probably far out of his sphere. Their spheres of society were totally different ones. His entire family was with the Order. Hers were Death Eaters. He was a wizard. She was practically a muggle, if you were unaware (as she was) that she was pureblooded. He forced himself into the professional realm.

Becoming attached to someone is a choice, he lectured himself. Choose not to like her, choose rather to keep her at a professional distance. It's what's best all around.

That was just what he'd do. Because with too much work, a weakened government, a promotion to strive for, an alcoholic brother, a clingy mother, and a host of siblings and others to deal with, he simply didn't have time for girls.

So there.

.

Audrey pushed open the front door and slipped in, hoping against hope that her mother was not up.

"So."

No such luck, obviously.

"Morning, Mum."

Her mother took in her wrinkled appearance with no more comment than a raised eyebrow. "Good morning."

Audrey took a breath and let it out. "All right, I know I'm a mess. We were talking late and we fell asleep. On the couch."

Lucy was biting back a coy smile. "Um-hum."

"Mum..."

"What were you talking about?" Her mother's tone shifted abruptly as she turned to shuffle back to the kitchen in her robe. Audrey followed, feeling the need to shower, but ignoring it. Both sank down at the table.

"We were talking about the case, and then we just kind of drifted." Audrey shrugged, then remembered. The name, Percy had given her a name. She let excitement cross her face as she looked across the table, then bit it back abruptly. She didn't have to tell her mother right away? Percy probably wouldn't want her to know. He'd warned her, this Lucius Malfoy wasn't someone she'd want to know...

She hastily smoothed her expression as her mother watched. "So...um, yes, we just talked."

"Just talked?"

"Yes, ma'am."

There was a pause as Lucy watched her deductively. "You're awfully excited for 'just talked'. Are you sure that there wasn't..." Lucy paused elaborately, "A little something more going on?"

Audrey bit her tongue. She might have known that her mother would read her evasiveness incorrectly. It was a fairly natural conclusion. "Mum, we were just talking."

"And when you say you 'drifted' off topic, what exactly does that mean?"

"Mum, please." Audrey pleaded. "We're working, it's not like we're in love."

"He's single, you know." Lucy replied abruptly.

"Wha...how do you know that?"

"I talked to his brother, his brother George last night. We had quite a little chat." Lucy nodded.

"George...Isn't that the one his other brothers were looking for?" Audrey recalled the picture she'd seen last night. George, hadn't he been one of the laughing twins standing in the back?

"The very same." Her mother nodded. "I think he's sick or something, maybe unstable. Anyway, he's a sweet young man. I think he might be single, too (if you're interested) and he was quite forthcoming."

Audrey ignored her mother's comment. "What'd he say?"

"He said a lot of things." Her mother leaned back. "He said his whole family works for the Ministry, and so they all know what the others are working on. And he mentioned that he'd read your father's...well, Michael's case, and he said that it was a specific type of crime. He seems to know a lot about these Death Eater people."

"Like what? Did you learn anything...?"

"He called your father's death a 'muggle-killing.'" Lucy was leaning forward conspiratorially, and gave a shrug. "Whatever that means."

Audrey was silent a moment. "They use a lot of words we don't understand." She mused. "Do you know what a muggle-killing is?"

"No. I even looked the words up, found nothing. I thought perhaps it's some sort of acronym."

Audrey debated what to tell her mother. She had a name, at least on name to lead her on. Percy hadn't said explicitly that this Lucius Malfoy was her father or any relation, really, but he'd implied she might have grown up in his house, had things been different. So he was a starting point. And Percy was giving her so little to go on...surely he couldn't fault her for going out and investigating a bit on her own. Audrey chewed her lip. He'd probably be angry, and she didn't want that. But perhaps she could work out something...Another glance at her mother and her mind was made up. For now, Lucius Malfoy was her secret, to be acted on alone.

She shifted the conversation a little, away from the case, the murder. "So you and George got along then?"

"Oh, yes. He told me a lot about his family, and all of his brothers, and Percy too, of course."

"Percy mentioned to me about his little sister, the youngest. Showed me a picture of them, and the twins..."

Lucy cocked her head. "What twins?"

"The twins." Audrey told her. "George, and he has a brother...I think his name was Frank or something. They're identical twins."

Lucy looked puzzled. "Are you sure? George and I talked for quite a while, he told me a lot, and he never mentioned a twin brother." The coy smile slipped into it's place again. "Well, perhaps Percy was a little more open with you than George was with me."

Audrey gave her mother a look.

"You like him?"

"Maybe. I like him as a person, and I like him as a detective." Audrey responded.

"He's single." Her mother reminded her.

"Yes, you mentioned that." Audrey rose from the table. As much as she had gotten to like Percy, she wasn't going to go on about it when he obviously wasn't interested in her. "And he saw me wake up looking like a mess this morning. I need a shower, and badly. I have homework and a class this afternoon. And I need to call Davis."

"For what?"

"For...stuff." Audrey responded, disappearing through the kitchen doorway. She mounted the carpeted stairs and passed her bedroom for the bathroom, paused again in front of the mirror. Well, all right, she didn't look too bad. If only she didn't have such a pointy face. She fiddled with her hair. She'd often wondered when she was a child if one parent had been Asian, given that her skin was white and her hair was black. Such very Black hair. With a shrug, she passed the mirror and turned on the shower. She had things to do, and worrying about her appearance would get none of them done.

.

"So...what are you doing?"

Audrey glanced up to find Davis gazing down at her, perplexed.

"I'm looking at a phone book. That ought to be fairly obvious."

Davis sat across from her, his bag striking the table with a loud thump. "Yes, and you have homework."

"I think I might take a break from school and get a read hob." she resonded. "I really don't have the focus rught now."

"Audrey, what are you doing?"

She paused, looking up at him again. "I'm looking for a name." She resumed her skimming.

"Audrey that's a phone book. So you're looking for a number."

"Yes, Davis, but you see, phone books are not just useful for getting phone humbers." She told him.

"Oh?"

"Yes. They also have..." Her eyes landed on the name she was looking for. Malfoy, right there in the middle. "Addresses."

Davis backed up. "Wait. What are you doing?"

"I'm paying someone a little call." She responded, scribbling down the address.

"Who, your detective boyfriend?"

"I already know where he lives." She replied, then kicked herself as Davis wiggled his eyebrows suggestively in response. Not even bothering to glare at him, she dropped her eyes to the book again. "I'm not going to see him, I'm going somewhere else. And you're going with me."

"Wait. What?"