Percy said so now, but what would he believe when the scandal eventually broke? Affairs were notoriously hard to keep quiet, and they were even more so when one participant was regularly spoke of in gossip rags. If even one of his housekeepers slipped his reputation would be smeared and hers destroyed. Maggie couldn't blame him for his naivety, as he had never been in the position where it mattered. But, he was the assistant head of his department now. And he could very well continue upwards however high he aimed. Minister of Magic even if he desired it. Maggie couldn't partake in something she knew would one day ruin him.

Besides, she also couldn't give him a family of his own if her history was telling. How many tiny, infantile lives were lost because of her failings? How many times had she gone to Edmund full of hope only to dash them soon after. Percy didn't know what he would be losing with her, and Maggie couldn't tell him. Not like this. Not without copious amounts of alcohol and probing.

Crafting some lie to separate them once more felt equally impossible. Maggie had spent more of her missing her best friend than she had spent with him. "It is your life and your mistakes." She agreed hesitantly. "But, you're giving up a life of happiness with a family to what? Wait two years just to court? You have to at least try to find happiness outside of me, Percy. You can't live like a ghost anymore, I won't let you."