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

Chapter 21: Not Letting Go

Percy stared at the foreign object. There were a lot of squares with numbers and letters on them. And the middle square had a little bump on it. And there was a slit at the top, and a hole at the bottom. There was a long curly piece of thick string coming out of it, too. And there was the only piece of the thing he could identify, the reciever. He stared at it long and hard before picking it up. He had reviewed his Muggle Studies homework, with its detailed diagram of a telephone, until he was fairly certain he could use it and not embarrass himself.

The receiver went to his ear. He knew that, of course, from his experience with the ministry telephone booth. And the numbers...he punched in the correct sequence carefully. Strange things, these muggle inventions.

"Audrey Bones."

"This is Percy Weasley."

"Oh." There was a heavy thump in the background. "Hello, Percy."

"Hello." He fidgeted with the long curly strong until his finger got stuck in the curls and he couldn't pull it out. "I was just calling to see how the two of you were."

"We're well." She sounded flushed. "And you?"

"I'm also well..." He bit his lip, rubbed his eyebrow, and decided to get on with it.

"Are you busy this weekend?"

"This weekend...?"

"Yes."

"No. I mean, I have to work on Friday, but not on Saturday...why?"

"I was wondering if you..." He rubbed his eyebrow again. "If you could go out to dinner with me. Sometime. Saturday night." He was sweating. Why was he sweating? Because she would say no, that was why.

"I'd love to."

"You would? I mean, oh. Excellent. Copacetic."

"Just tell me when and where."

.

Audrey hung up her phone, still standing in the shambles of her room. She had been putting away her laundry...until he'd called, and she'd knocked over the basket and now her cleaned clothes were all over the floor. She stared at the items hanging up to dry around the room. What was she going to wear? What was she going to do? Or say? Percy had just asked her out, for real. A genuine date, at a nice restaurant.

"Mum!" She started for the stairs.

"Audrey, Davis is here!"

She stopped, growled in her throat, and started down the stairs two at a time. "Davis! Why do you have to come at the most inconvenient of..." She landed at the bottom and found Davis standing at the bottom...with his arm around a girl. A very pretty one.

"Times?" Davis asked.

"What?"

"Most inconvenient of times. That's when I arrive, right?"

"Yes." She agreed, coming forward to meet the stranger as he turned to introduce them.

"This is Audrey. She's really a lot more put together most of the time."

"Well, thanks..."

"Ethan." The young woman gave Davis a look and a poke in the ribs before turning her brown eyes back on Audrey. "He is uncouth, isn't he?"

"He is." Audrey agreed, smoothing her hair. "I promise it isn't my fault. He was worse when I met him."

"I believe it." The brown eyes danced. "Audrey, I've heard so much about you from Ethan. It's good to finally meet you."

Finally? They'd only been together what, a week? Audrey smiled back. "And you, too..."

"Penny." The young woman supplied. "I'm Penny Clearwater."

"My new girlfriend." Davis finished proudly.

.

Audrey ran her fingers over her face, checking her makeup for flaws. Everything appeared to be in place. She reached for her dress and slid it on over her hips.

"Need help?" Lucy was in the doorway.

"Mind fastening my necklace?"

Lucy stepped around the back and fingered the clasp for a moment before Audrey heard it snap in place. "There."

Audrey looked at herself critically. "How do I look?"

"Radiant. How do I look?"

"Mum, this is serious."

"Audrey, you are a lovely young woman who looks unusually lovely tonight. And Percy would agree with that, but that he would use a six-syllable word to express the same sentiment."

"Thanks, Mum. I never thought I'd meet someone who out-geeked me and my science textbooks." She turned from the mirror and slipped on her shoes.

"How is he getting you there?"

"No car." Audrey reminded her mother. "We're taking a cab."

"How romantic."

"Mum. It's a first date. And we're not very romantic anyway."

"Teasing, darling."

The doorbell rang. Audrey moved to answer it, suddenly possessed of a desire to spend another hour in front of the mirror.

"Good evening." She greeted him.

"Good evening." He responded in kind, taking in her dress with a pleasantly surprised glance. "You look pulchritudinous."

"Pardon?"

"I mean...you look very nice." He corrected himself, as she filed the word away in her mind. She'd have to look it up later and hope it meant something good. Judging by the look on his face, though, she could assume for now that it was meant as a compliment. "Are you ready?"

"I am."

At the restaurant, they slipped into their seats at a small table. It was nice, but not too nice. Audrey knew from her father that it was a decent establishment, but reasonable in price. She glanced gingerly up at him as he sat across from her.

"I was surprised you called."

"Well, I had also other reasons for getting in touch with you." He slid a brown file across the table at her. "The paperwork to apply for permissive status."

"Oh." She felt her face fall a little. Still a working relationship, obviously.

"And I felt I owed you after those several dinners I had with you and your mother." He met her gaze across the table and they were back to just them, no work. From the way he'd looked at her, she would have thought he was interested only in her, and the paperwork was simply an excuse...oh.

After placing their orders, he struck up the conversation. "So you said you've got a job?"

"Yes." She shrugged. "It's a teaching position. Not full-time, but if I don't like the hours I can get another job and work double."

"That's good." He commented. "You like it, then?"

"Yesterday was my orientation. School starts in a little over a week, so it ought to work out well and nicely. I think I'll like it."

"And Lucy? How's she been in the last few days?"

"Well." Audrey nodded. "Now that Dad is...officially over and done with, she seems to be doing well." She skimmed over that topic. She didn't really want to talk about Dad, or about her parents, or murder, or any of that tonight. She wanted this to be the first in a series of murder-free nights. Her gaze fell upon the file on the table. Murder free, but still with paperwork to be done, apparently. "And how is your family?"

"Well also." He nodded. "My little sister just turned seventeen. It's...frightening, actually, to think that's she's overage now."

"Is she the bold type?"

"Very. I'm afraid she'll go out and get an I Love Potter tattoo or something." He smiled ruefully. She didn't quite get the joke, but smiled with him anyways.

"And George?"

"George." He glanced down at his plate, surprised she'd even thought of George. "He's well. He was, um...sick for a few months, but he's better now."

"That's good." She let the topic drop and moved on to something she knew he wouldn't mind telling her about. "So, what are you working on now?"

.

Percy glanced across at Audrey. She did look pulchritudinous tonight. He didn't know a thing about dresses or what women wore, but he knew she looked nice.

He hadn't wanted to just let things drop as they had been. It wasn't much fun being alone after one had got used to companionship. He liked her, he'd admit, and it was becoming increasingly probable that she liked him, against all odds. Things like this didn't happen to him every day, especially not anymore, and he wasn't about to let it go.

If he could play his cards right, if he could manage the muggle versus the magical world, get around the fact of her birth and his birth, if he could get her past the murder, if he could get his family to like her, if he could get her to like him, if he could get around all this plus all the other things in his way...it might just work out. But that was a lot of ifs.

Shut it, he told himself. Don't think about you. Think about her. Think about...well, he didn't want to think too much about how nice she looked. That might get distracting.

"How is your friend Davis?"

She glanced up at him, a little surprised. "Oh, he's, um, fine." A memory seemed to trigger as she shook her head. "He has a girlfriend he's eager to show off to people, so he seems happy."

"Good." She hadn't asked yet about the obliviation. She couldn't have guessed yet. Godric knew what she'd do when she did find out...he didn't want to think about that either. He glanced across at her, with that long black hair.

She didn't look a thing like Bellatrix Lestrange.

.

There was something strangely riveting about walking in the park at dark. Audrey glanced off the path, and wondered for a moment about muggers or homeless bummers. But then again...she glanced back at Percy. It was worth the risk when he had her arm tucked in his. Deliberately, this time.

"So." She brought up a topic that had been admittedly successful on their last evening out together. "What was your first job?"

"This game again?"

"A good way to learn irrelevant, insignificant details about one another."

"When I was six, I sold muggle newspapers."

"As opposed to...?"

He muttered something that sounded a little like a swear word. "As opposed to non-muggle newspapers."

"Ah. I don't see."

"You shouldn't." He told her. "My turn."

"Fine."

"What in your opinion, is the basis of morality and ethics?"

"Not fair. I gave you an easy one."

"I'm merely gauging your mindset."

She gave a grudging sound in her throat as she thought of an answer. "Well...I believe that God is the basis of morality and ethics. His word is law. And now," She rounded on him, "What happens when you die, in your opinion?"

"Define die."

"Die. Stop living. Cessation of all heartbeat." Wasn't that a fairly obvious definition?

"Difficult question." He responded. "From what I hear from those who know about such things, there is a sort of heaven, a definite hell, and a third alternative."

"What's the third alternative?"

"That's not part of the question, and you only get one."

"Percy, that's cheating."

"Well, even if it is, I can't answer your question." He replied pragmatically.

"I'm surprised you have such pat answers." She commented, subtly letting the first topic drop.

"I had a friend who liked to discuss philosophy at a very difficult time in both our lives. We..." He coughed, "Learned a lot from one another."

"He died?"

"Yes."

"Sorry."

"Most people have." He said, still pragmatic. He'd tried hard ever since then not to think about it. Not to think about how hard it had been as he ran through the names of the dead. The list had seemed to get longer and longer...He shook his head to get it out of his mind. It was over. It was over now, and they were gone. He was here, and he was safe. This was reality, and he had to live in it. "For the record, I'm not surprised you have such pat answers."

"Oh?"

"You yourself said you like to know everything."

"An attitude more than eclipsed by yourself." She shot back with a scoff.

"Touche." He pondered his next question. "What was your first job?"

"We're back easy questions now?"

"I thought I'd leave the matter of evil and suffering for a later date."

"Thank you. And my first job was as a dishwasher at the restaurant where my parents worked. I was a very dependent child. Couldn't bear to work alone."

"Hm." He hummed disapprovingly.

"And you?"

"Not dependent." He confessed. "I fend for myself." He sounded a little proud and a little ashamed.

"But you can't always fend for yourself." She argued. "It doesn't work that way."

"I can try." He replied drily. "And fate seems to have arranged my life in such a manner that anyone who helps me is going to get killed, so...I might as well help myself. Those who help me, don't last long."

She was silent for a long moment.

"Sorry. That isn't something one says on a date, is it?"

"No." She agreed. "It isn't. But under the circumstances of our meeting, I'd say it's all right. We only know one another because my birth mother killed my father."

"True." He agreed. "A relationship beginning under such inauspicious circumstances is bound to be fraught with..." He trailed off, looking for an appropriate term.

"Angst?" She supplied cheerily.

"I suppose."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Mm-hm."

"You said just a moment ago that 'fate' directed your life. What do you really believe directs our lives...Fate? Chance? Destiny? God? Darth Vader?"

"Back to hard questions, I see."

"I like the hard questions."

He thought a long time on that, answering carefully. "I have seen things. And I cannot conclude from my experience, and from my reason, that no God exists. So I suppose He, or It, or They, must have some effect on life. Chance, I think, also plays a large part, being manifest in the results of poor action of our fellow men. Divine intervention or happenstance, then, I suppose, would be the answer to your question. And now it's my turn."

"All right."

"What is this 'Dark Vader' you were talking about?"

"I think you mean, Darth Vader."

"Yes. Is that a theological reference? I've never heard of it."

"You've..." She looked up at him. "You've never heard of Darth Vader?"

"No..." He looked away. "As I said, I didn't grow up in a place like you..."

"No kidding." She shook her head. "Darth Vader is a fictional character very well known in popular culture."

"Oh, popular culture." He said dismissively.

She burst into giggles at his tone. "Percy, where did you grow up?"

"Devon!"

"Not the Devon I've heard of." She told him. "Can I say something?"

"You may."

"I think you're lying. I don't think you're from Devon at all."

"I'm not sure that's proper date-fodder, either, Audrey."

"I'm not a romantic person."

"Thank Godric. Neither am I."

"You just changed the subject, didn't you?"

"Yes. But on that topic; just wait until you meet my family. I'll show you someday, we do live in Devon."

"As you like it." She shrugged and they kept walking. "We will have to sit you down and watch Star Wars someday, though."

"Star Wars?"

"Yes, it's a film series. Darth Vader is the villain."

"Oh." He glanced down at her. "Is it of cultural importance?"

"Very much so. It was made in the 70's, and it opened the doors of the culture to all kinds of metaphysical and mystical beliefs."

"It's about magic?"

"No...More about science fiction. Eastern mysticism, a pinch of new age..." She trailed off. "I can't believe you've never heard of this."

"Sorry. I'm not really into mysticism." Oddly enough, considering he was the wizard in this conversation.

"Tell me something I haven't guessed." She stretched a little and glanced up at the sky. She'd never got along well on dates. They always ended poorly because she simply didn't know what to talk about. And most men were...ignorant. It felt nice to be able to discuss ethics, metaphysics, and the meaning of life with someone not a professor. Swot to swot, she mused. I don't know if he's enjoying this, but I sure am. Better than talking about football and shopping, at any rate.

.

Audrey stepped into the front hall, wishing for the moment that her mother hadn't asked her to stay living at home. Wishing she had her own place. "Thank you, Percy. I had a good time."

"As did I." He responded. The hall was dark, but the streetlights outside were shining in through the doorway, making one side of his face dark and the other side light. "Thank you for agreeing to go out with me after our inauspicious history."

She smiled, wondering if her makeup was still pretty and her hair was still nice-looking. "My pleasure." She responded saucily, echoing his words of a few days earlier. He understood her reference, chuckling and glancing away, making the light glint on his glasses. He seemed to hesitate a moment before stepping a little closer.

She tilted her head up to look at him, not sure until he leaned down and kissed her gently. She responded instantly this time, having already been expecting, hoping for this. She had taken off her high heels, and he was too tall, really, when she was in her bare feet. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach him, and it made her feet ache, but it was worth it.

He was a good kisser, better than expected. She slid her hands up to his shoulders as his hands rested on her elbows. After a moment, both broke away and she took a breath, their faces still close.

And then kissed him again. Percy was surprised, but took it in kind, responding. Her kiss was almost hesitant, but delicious nonetheless. This kiss was different, this time he was in his right mind and knew what he wanted, knew what he was doing. He was only half-aware of his hands sliding to her waist. Now that he was holding her, touching her, he realized what a very nice body she had. Not ideal, but still...well worth holding.

For one instant, their mouths parted, and he felt their tongues flick against one another, though he couldn't have said whose fault that was. He felt a pleasant shiver go down in his stomach as he pressed another kiss against her mouth.

Oh, and that was one more good thing about her. She didn't make him take off his glasses to kiss her.

Her hands were on his chest, he noticed as they pulled apart.

Oh, no, he wasn't letting go of this.

"Thank you," she murmured again, stepping back.

"I think we've used up the opportunity to say it was my pleasure." He joked lightly, trying to pull himself together again. "I should be going."

"Good night."

"Good night." He glanced down at the file still in her hand. "When you decide to work on that, let me know."

"I will. Soon."

"Good." He bade her good night and started down the road. He didn't dare apparate just yet. His head was in the clouds, and didn't know if Audrey might be watching.

She was.

A/N: All right, I really tried to write a nice, fluffy chapter with zero substance and lots of romantic jargon for your enjoyment, but it just wouldn't come. These two are just not very romantic couple, despite my best efforts, so I'm sorry, this is what you get. I hope it's not too...heavy.