Author's Note: Years ago, I had a dream that I was trapped on an island of cannibals who wanted to sacrifice me. I'd go into more detail, but it's the exact same dream Joey had so it would be kind of pointless for me to tell it twice.

Percy grew quiet in the days that followed his family's disappearance. Though the Simmons did their best to cheer him up, he simply could not find joy in anything. This is not to say that he was angry or depressed all the time, he simply was quiet and when he found something to be happy about, it didn't last for long.

No matter what he did or who he asked, he didn't hear anything about his family, not even Bill. However, he did hear rumors that Harry Potter (or "Undesirable Number One"), Hermione Granger ("that Mudblood 'e 'angs around with") and Percy's own brother, Ron, ("an' that Ginger, your brother, aint it?") had almost been caught at Malfoy Mannor, but had somehow escaped. The rumor that Ron had been spotted would explain why his family had disappeared and it actually comforted him. If they had caught Harry, Ron, or Hermione, everyone would know about it. And since they hadn't heard anything, clearly they not been caught. More importantly, if there were rumors about their whereabouts, they might still be alive.

Audrey was sure that those were just rumors; no one could actually escape from Malfoy Mannor she believed. "You haven't met my brother," Percy told her.

But despite the fact that it seemed that nothing was going right, life went on. Audrey and Joey argued while Mr. and Mrs. Simmons refereed, Joey had set on completely redecorating the house in his spare time, Alicia showed up to work hung-over, Yaxley ranted about Mrs. Yaxley (who may or may have been having an affair), Mrs. Simmons' cooking was delicious as always, and, most importantly, everyday Audrey would help Percy take his coat off after work and ask him how his day went.

"How was your day?" Audrey asked, hanging his coat on the hanger.

"Same as usual," Percy replied. "Ummm, Alicia had a mild hangover this morning," he said, trying to find something interesting.

"Doesn't she always?" Audrey asked amused. As Percy had told Alicia much about Audrey, he'd also told her much about Alicia and he couldn't tell who wanted to meet who more.

"Not always," Percy defended. "Sometimes she's still drunk!"

The two laughed as they walked into the kitchen where Mr. Simmons was trying to teach Joey to cook roast beef.

Mrs. Simmons tossed the salad and viewed her husband and son amused. "They've been arguing all day. And it seems like there are actually worse cooks than you, Audrey, out there. In this family even."

Audrey scowled. "Just because, I get distracted easily, does not mean that I'm a bad cook. I'm actually pretty good when I don't burn the food."

It was true. When she didn't forget that she had something on the stove, Audrey's food almost rivaled Percy's mother's. Almost.

"When you don't burn the food," Mrs. Simmons repeated laughing. Just then, Mr. Simmons and Joey began shouting again and Mrs. Simmons ran over to go referee.

Seeing as the arguing made the kitchen feel rather crowded, Percy and Audrey left to sit in the living room.

"Was it this hard when you learned to cook?" Percy asked.

"I don't remember it being," Audrey mused, "but I guess that teaching someone to cook is always frustrating."

"I don't think it was for me either," Percy nodded, sitting down. "I guess I figured that the sooner I made my parents happy, the sooner I could go read again."

Audrey wasn't sure what to think of that. "That sounds….mature…."

"It wasn't. I did nothing but what I thought I was supposed to do. I studied my entire childhood because I wanted to get a better job than my dad because I didn't realize that there were more important things than money," he said bitterly. "I never really spent any time with my siblings because I thought I was better than them. I never…." He choked, unable to say more.

Audrey hugged him. "It'll be okay, Percy."

"How can you say that?" he asked, though it made him feel better. "What if I never see them again? What if I….what if I never get to tell them I love them?"

"They know. And you will see them again. I have a good feeling about it."

"And what was your grade in Divination?"

"'Acceptable' the first year. I didn't take it after that. Trelony was crazy."

XXX

"And just before I hit the ground," Joey said, "I woke up."

Percy blinked. "Why were you trapped on an island of cannibals?"

"I don't know! You know how when you dream something, the dream starts in the middle and never at the beginning?" Joey shrugged.

"Yeah, and why did you have a teddy bear with you?" Audrey asked. "You haven't had one of those in years."

"It was part of the sacrifice," Joey shrugged. "Apparently, to please the gods, they needed to kill someone in a cradle with a teddy bear."

"Another thing," Percy raised his hand. "How were you running away from them if you were in the cradle the whole time?"

"Dunno. I just wanted to go forward really fast and the cradle moved. It was actually kind of like Fred Flintstone's car."

At the Muggle reference, Percy immediately turned to Audrey who said, "I'll tell you later."

"Any other questions?"

"Yeah, if they were cannibals, were they actually going to eat you or were you just a sacrifice? Because I've read about some of the more famous cannibalistic societies in history and…."

Audrey elbowed Percy in the ribs.

"I dunno," Joey shook his head. "But if they were going to kill me anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

The three sat there for a moment before bursting out laughing. Suddenly, Audrey sat up straight. "Joey, what was the weather forecast?"

"I think it was in the sixties," Joey said. "Why?"

A wicked little grin spread across her face. "Because I think it would be a perfect night to take Percy camping the backyard."

Percy couldn't help but grin at Audrey's memory. He himself had thought of that conversation often, but as the months had passed, he'd nearly forgotten. But, always being the practical one, he had to interject (rather half-heartedly). "Actually, I don't think it would be."

"Why not?!" both Simmons asked scandalized.

"It's supposed to rain tonight."

The two groaned and Audrey made some comment about how Joey needed to pay more attention to these things to which he replied that if it were so important to her, she ought to pay more attention herself.

XXX

Sure enough, that night it rained. And it rained. But it did not just rain. No, it poured. And thundered. And hailed. And had the family not completely rebuilt the house the previous November, the little cottage would have no doubt fallen in.

Had they been living in a Muggle house, the power would have gone out and the rain would have put out the fire in the fireplace. Luckily, there were two people possessing magic living in that house which prevented any of that from happening.

Joey, whose bedroom had been the worst for storms as child, fell asleep straightaway as it had come to the point where storms worked as lullabies for him.

Mr. Simmons had never had any trouble with storms and fell asleep as he normally did.

Mrs. Simmons, being a mother, had been so used to not sleeping properly in so long that ever night she fell asleep well, regardless of the circumstances.

Percy, after a long, hard week at work, fell asleep without any trouble, planning on sleeping in as late as nine the following morning.

But there is one person who has yet to be mentioned. But the focus shall remain on Percy for the moment.

It was likely around midnight or one or two or something when Percy awoke with a strange, sudden craving for tea. The craving was so strong, in fact, that he could have sworn that he could smell the scent wafting through the air. He tiredly stumbled down the stairs, hoping that he wouldn't kill himself while wondering half-asleep in the dark only to find that the living room light was still on and the room wasn't empty as he'd expected. Wrapped up in a blanket, Audrey sat on the couch, clutching a cup of tea.

"Audrey? What're you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep," she said quieter than usual gesturing to the window out of which the storm was still raging on. Almost as if on cue, lightning lit up the sky and the house shook with thunder. "I don't understand how anyone can sleep through all that. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Percy viewed her puzzled for a moment then a grin spread across his face. "You're not…no, never mind."

"I'm not what?" she asked suspiciously, taking another sip of her tea.

"You're not afraid of thunderstorms are you?" he asked, still grinning.

"Of course not!" she snapped a little too quickly which only caused Percy to start laughing. "It's not funny! Storms are…." The house shook with thunder once again and Audrey winced.

Percy stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. It's just…you. That you're afraid of thunder." He strode over to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of tea.

"I'm not afraid of thunder. Thunder doesn't kill people. It just prevents them from getting to sleep. Lightning kills people. And what's 'it's just you' supposed to mean?" she asked, accusingly.

"You just don't seem like you would get scared of that sort of thing," he shrugged sitting down next to her. "I mean, are you scared of mice?"

"No, they're tiny."

"Bugs?"

"Miniscule."

"Germs?"

"Microscopic."

"Snakes?"

"Ehhh, I'm wary of the poisonous ones. But the other ones don't really bother me."

"Heights?"

"Only if I'm unusually likely to fall."

"See what I mean?" Percy asked. "You're not scared of things that scare most people, but you're scared of thunderstorms. You don't find that a little ironic?"

Audrey grinned. "I guess so…." Thunder shook the house once again and Audrey winced once more.

"Hey," Percy placed his hand on hers. "Do you have any idea how many protective spells there are on this house? I'm pretty sure the worst thing that could possibly happen to us would be the roof leaking."

Audrey smiled. "Thanks, Percy." There was a silent moment before Audrey's smile melted away and she said, "But if you ever tell anyone, I'll….."

Percy laughed again (a sound that Audrey decided she quite liked very much). "Would I?"

They sat, smiling at each other in a comfortable silence for a little while, when suddenly that moment was over.

Suddenly, their lips met and everything was perfect. To this day, Percy could not tell you who kissed who, only that that moment was perfect. And ended far too quickly.

Audrey pulled back, almost panicking. "I'm sorry, Percy." She took a deep breath, "It's not that I don't like because I do, I really do, but this won't work out. You mean too much to me to ruin it by being in a relationship that probably won't work out anyway. I mean, I've read about people: patients, kidnap victims, people stranded in the middle of nowhere, or whatever who think that they've fallen in love with the doctor who saved them or the person who rescued them or whatever when they're really not actually in love, they're just so relieved that someone saved them and I really don't want that to happen to us, because you mean too much to me and…."

"Audrey," Percy cut her off, "shut up." And he kissed her once more.

Audrey pulled back again, an amused look on her face. "Since when do you screw logic and go by what you're feeling?"

"Since when do you over analyze everything?" he countered.

"Touché," she grinned before kissing him again.