The shrill words hit Percy as if they had been a physical blow. He had never imagined that Maggie had not been content in her marriage, happy with her choice in life. She had never bothered to tell him that. But now she exploded as if he ought to have known this whole time. Percy bristled at the blow.

Before he realized it Maggie had whipped her wand out and Percy found himself reaching for his own without even realizing it. It had been years since he had last seen Maggie and she seemed unhinged enough that he wondered if he'd find himself needing a shield charm between them. He'd seen her temper before, but never like this, and never at him. Instead Maggie cast a charm around the room, he let go of his hold on the wand, surprised at the hastiness he had felt in defending himself against the one person he had never thought he'd have to.

Then she turned back on him. Her words hitting him like icy buckets of water. The reality he had created for them, the truth he had never seen. "You always have a choice." Percy glared at her. "What was I supposed to do Maggie? Show up at your parents do a penniless boy barely out of school?" His voice rose in exasperation. "They would never have allowed that, and you know it. I had to make something of myself first!"