Thankfully, Maggie hardly noticed his hand reach for his wand. The verbal fight might very well have become a duel had she fully registered it.

"You might have told me. Given me any indication that I was right to wait." She hurled back furiously. The grief of losing him was rearing its ugly head once again, as though they had only parted yesterday. "My parents expected me to establish connections for my brothers. Dennis was guaranteed employment with the Goyle's." She was a woman — and not a wealthy one at that. Her only fortune was her looks and those vanished quickly. What little choice she did have was superceded by Dennis' needs for a future.

Maggie unconsciously took a step towards him, her heart in her throat. Percy was going to leave her again, and there was little she could do about it. "I waited for you, Percy. I waited as long as I could." 'I loved you,' was what she meant, but those words were sure to make him flee.