How the wisest wizard of his age seemed to so thoroughly misunderstand Muggle fashion, Percy could not understand. The crowd of gray umbrellas and beige trench coats seemed to give a wide berth to Dumbledore's purple plastic rain jacket and yellow polka dot umbrella. Percy, himself in a gray anorak, hood up, walked up to Dumbledore.
"Ah, Professor, perhaps we could wait under that alcove?"
Percy was keen to begin the meeting, having anxiously regarded the message sent by Dumbledore yesterday, about his permanent contact as he embarked on his espionage journey. At the sound of Percy's voice, Dumbledore turned, a lively grin on his face.
"Remarkable, these muggle fashions. We do not give credit where it us due. I have never felt so dry in a rainstorm - even a charm lets the chill of the air through."
"Indeed, Professor. My flat is in a muggle neighborhood and I have found much amusement and awe in my new commute."
"A new commute, Weasley? I didn't know that is what we are to call parental eviction these days. Though, twenty and at home is a bit old, I suppose." The soft arrogant voice drawled as Percy stared in disbelief. Before him stood his Potions Master, in a black muggle rain jacket. To his credit, Snape seemed just as displeased as Percy felt shocked.
"Ah, Severus, I was rather hoping you would join us. Come, I know just the place." Before either man could respond, Dumbledore began purposefully striding away. Snape didn't give Percy a second glance before he followed, leaving Percy to stare in dumbfounded silence before he quickly trotted after them, concerned to lose them in the crowded streets of London.
The walk didn't leave Percy anymore level headed, as he found himself staring at Snape and Dumbledore across a pot of tea. Snape's hair was damp and matted against his forehead. He peered down his crooked nose, raising an eyebrow in an intimidating manner, before settling back into his chair and allowing Dumbledore to begin their meeting.
"Percy, I am sure you are quite familiar with Severus-" At this, Snape began coughing and Percy's face reddened. No, no he was not familiar with Severus. He had only vaguely known that Professor Snape had a first name. He was familiar with Professor Snape, the man he allowed Percy to grovel not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions for better grades in NEWT Potions; the professor who laughed when a Slytherin prefect tripped him down the stair while training the newest prefects as headboy.
Dumbledore ignored both men's discomfort and continued on, pointedly, "and Severus, I am sure you are quite familiar with Percy. You two will be working together closely for the foreseeable future. As I am sure you are both aware, this is only the beginning. The circumstances within the ministry, and within Hogwarts are only going to get worse before they get better. Once the school year begins, my availability will greatly decrease. As such, Severus has volunteered to serve as your handler, Percy."
Percy stared at Dumbledore, his cup of tea cooling in his hands. He then turned his gaze upon Snape, who had repositioned himself and now stared pointedly at Percy.
"No room at the table for you, Weasley? Trying to earn your mother's love not that Potter's edged you out? Pity. She made dinner last night at the headquarters - even I had to say it was quite good." So much of what Snape said sounded like nonsense to Percy - why would Snape eat dinner at the Burrow? And since when was the Burrow called "Headquarters"?
"Now Severus, remember what we discussed."
"Ah yes, how you would like me to help Percy because it is so terrifying to be a spy. As if acting like the cuckold at the ministry isn't what he's been doing for the past seven years. Yes, very dangerous Dumbledore. I am glad I am spending my time in this manner." Percy blinked in shock at the crass nature and disdain apparent in Snape's voice, but Snape continued.
"Weasley, I have enough on my hands without babysitting you. You will owl me weekly with any information gained through…." here Snape paused for dramatic effect "...your position. We will meet once a month in Muggle London to discuss. Please keep all contact relevant. I am not interested in matters of the personal nature, no matter what Dumbledore may argue upon my behalf." At the final word, Snape got up and began walking towards the door of the cafe. He curtly nodded to Dumbledore, but walking out the door, into the misty gray rain.
Percy looked upon the door for a moment before remarking to Dumbledore, "He does rather have a love for monologues. I always thought that was his classroom persona."
Dumbledore laughed brightly and sipped at his tea. "I think by the end of this war, you'll understand Severus more than anyone else. If you find yourself suddenly monologuing, please do feel free to enlighten me." Percy smiled at Dumbledore.
"Well Professor, I do have some items to share. What do you think about the curriculum?" Percy and Dumbledore discussed the flaws in Umbridge's Defense curriculum and syllabus - a ploy to undermine the ability of students and create a reliance upon the ministry for self defense.
"Professor, I did have a question of personal nature to ask you, before the school year begins and we see less of each other. How familiar are you with the muggle education system?"
"I am by no means an expert, but I have known a handful of wizards and squibs you attended at muggle universities. Do you have an interest?"
"My evenings are rather empty. I live in a muggle neighborhood and many of my neighbors are my age, but I feel unable to socialize because they all attend university. I was thinking about enrolling in a class or two, just to meet some people. Do you think it is possible? Or even a good idea, with the current state of affairs in our world?"
"I see no reason why you shouldn't give it a try. Percy, I know you do not see it this way, but you have already sacrificed so much. Do something, if only for yourself. I will have Professor McGonagall create transcripts for you so that you can seek entry."
"Thank you, Professor"
The follow week, Percy found himself enrolled in an evening Maths course. He had taken a placement exam very quickly after Professor Mcgonagall had sent his transcripts to the local University, and was embarrassed to find that he was in the lowest maths course that the institution offered. He had a NEWT in Arithmacy, how was it possible that muggles had a completely different set of maths? Of course he knew his basic functions, and could even do a little of what the Muggles called Algebra and Geometry, but graphing? Functions, and tangents, and sines? He had never heard of such words and had previously thought himself well acquainted with the english language.
Many of the students that slowly filled the room reminded him of Fred and George at worst and Ron at best. Rowdy or whiny, loudly boasting about something called Freshers week and how poorly they now felt, they all gave him the up and down before finding a seat anywhere but next to him. He had thought the collared shirt and slacks typical for University - after all that is what he wore throughout his Hogwarts career, and what he wore to the ministry beneath his cloak. With only a minute to spare before class officially begun, Percy found himself sitting next to the only empty chair in the room. So much for meeting people, he thought dryly.
Before he could ruminate more on what was sure to become a pity party, a mousy girl stopped in the doorway, spotted the final seat remaining, and determinedly sat next to him, making sure not make eye contact with Percy or anyone else. She quickly busied herself getting out her notebook and pencil and didn't say a word. Despite this, Percy was entranced; it wasn't that this girl was particularly beautiful (though he did feel that she was), it was that she had a determined air about her, a no-nonsense sensibility that clung to her beautiful chestnut hair and made her skin glow. He was sure this young lady had not engaged in any Fresher's Week shenanigans and was just as determined as he was to pass this class and move on to bigger and better things.
However, before Percy could truly orient himself to his luck of a seat partner, class had begun. If Percy had thought himself entranced by the girl sitting next to him, he was thoroughly hypnotized by the next ninety minutes. Arthmimacy asked numbers to strengthen magic, to serve as a foundation for complicated curses, hexes, and jinxes. This Muggle math, appeared to exist only as a puzzle for the mind. Sure, the professor made half-hearted attempts at real-world applications, something about the velocity of rockets (he would need to do some research on his evenings not in class), but the math was simply beautiful and appeared to him to serve only itself. By the end of the lesson, Percy could successful plot points on a coordinate plane and use a formula to predict future points - riveting!
As the class ended, the mystery girl regained Percy's attention as she dropped her pencil near his desk. Percy, always a gentlemen, quickly picked it up and held it out to her. She took the pencil without smiling, but didn't ignore Percy's question, "What did you think of this evening?" She thought for a moment, her face blank but her eyes bright as her mind seemed to process exactly the words she wanted to say. "I didn't think we would begin material quite so quickly; he'd hardly given us the syllabus before he was reviewing problems. I do remember this a bit from my A-Levels but it is quite foggy for me still."
"I prefer a professor who jumps straight into it - I love to read a syllabus as much as the next fellow, but I can do it on my own. I was quite interested in his explanation of how we can move the formula around if we need to solve for a variable that is not y, although it is difficult to imagine when you might need to do that." Percy spoke longer than necessary as he had forgotten the joy of speaking of simple topics like school.
His response seemed to perk the girl up, "I remember being in class when we learned this before, but I just can't seem to remember what the teacher said. I am hoping that with every class I'll remember more and more. My name is Audrey, by the way."
By this time they were both walking out of the classroom, towards the open doors of the building, "I'm Percy, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'll see you in the next class?"
She smiled before waving him off, "Yes, see you then!" Percy beamed - maybe he would meet someone.