She smiled faintly, feeling a bit at ease as he assured he didn't mind listening. She wasn't entirely sure he was being honest, but he at least didn't give off the impression that he just wanted her to shut her mouth like she'd gotten off others in the past.

"After I finally accepted I wasn't going to get to go to Hogwarts, I do not think I said a word that was not forced to for three years. Nat, my sister, and I, we were really close. We got better, but I'm scared we will never be that close again. It just feels like we have so little to relate too anymore. James, the one brother who doesn't have magic, we got closer after that. It was strange. Sometimes it just felt like I had to tread so carefully. It kind of makes me glad to be here instead oh back home with my parents in London."

She chuckled at his confession, wondering if her brothers would say the same about her and Nat. She trying to picture him young, minding after two little tottling girls. The picture didn't seem too odd for what she'd seen of him so far. "What good little sister doesn't keep her brother on her toes, sir?"

"A stroll sounds lovely. And you can tell me about yourself and your sisters while we look. They sound like fun."

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

Honestly Percy couldn’t imagine one of his sisters not talking for a whole year, though they were both entirely different people than the lady he was currently speaking to. He smiled as she spoke, feeling a bit sad for her loss. His sisters and him had gotten closer as they had grown up, but Cat and himself had always been close. What would it have been like if Cat hadn’t developed magical talents?

He chuckled, supposing she had a point. Sisters did seem to have the sole purpose in life of keeping on on their toes. “True.” He agreed, feeling that Lissy would definitely agree with this lady.

Giving her a grateful smile Percy began to walk her through the market. It occurred to him then that he hadn’t gotten the lady’s name in the chaos of their meeting. He’d need it for his report later, but more importantly it seemed the height of impoliteness to allow the conversation to continue without introductions. “I admit it feels odd to escort you without even knowing you name. I’ve been remiss, I suppose.” He paused and turned to her. “I do apologize for that.” A faint blush tickled his cheeks as he realized this likely made him seem rather awkward. “I’m Percival Adlard, I work for the Ministry’s Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.” It hadn’t even given him pause earlier that she had simply followed his cues regarding his work, but seeing as she was helping him he supposed he should at the very least explain the matter a bit.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

Her and Nat were getting better - or at least that was what Annabeth thought, so that was what counted. She didn't know if they would ever be as close as they once were, but as long as they were not as distant as they once were as well, Annabeth figure she would take it, even if she missed those days in the past. Still, even if she missed them, she wasn't sure she could ever relate enough to her sister to be that close. There was a large part of each other lives that they would both just never understood. Annabeth at least got to live in the magical world by proximity, and even that wouldn't last forever. If she couldn't find her own husband, well her clock was ticking till she was too old anymore for most and her mother would pull her back to the muggle world before that happened.

She'd just turned twenty-five, she couldn't imagine mother and father giving her much more time. And once that happened, she'd be pulled out of the magical world forever, always tempted by the idea of what could have been more than she already was. Maybe one day she'd be at peace with that. With herself and the ability to just be normal. To not be able to magick her quill from across the room or turn a mouse into a pincushion. She'd like to reach that point. To be comfortable in her own skin without wishing she was something else, but right now, she was still a long way away from being that.

Percy's voice drew her out of her own internal musings and she gave a small shake of her head as if to throw the thoughts from her mind. "We have to do something other than balls, or else all that dancing would bore us to death. It is part of the code. If we don't stress our big brothers out, we have failed our jobs."

And ohh... names. She hadn't even thought of that. First, she'd been to caught up in the fear of the not-cat, and then too excited by the new glimpse of the magic world that asking for the man's name or offering her own... "Oh dear, I am sorry. I'm afraid it slipped my mind as well. We are both at fault here, so I believe no apology is due! And no, I'm not just saying that to spare myself the task," the muggle chirped, happy to be lead around, so caught up in the conversation that she nearly forgot to be looking for the man from the ten. "It is a pleasure to put a name to the face, Mr. Adlard. I am Miss Annabeth Jennings and you already know where I work! Though you have me curious, what exactly do you in the Ministry. I can't imagine you are always chasing illegal sales to muggles."

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

Didn’t ladies love dancing? Lissy and Cat had always insisted they did, but the lady’s glib comment had Percy chuckling. It was a refreshing point of view. “Indeed.” He commented with an amused shake of his head.

Her reaction was much unlike any other lady he’d met that he found himself quite believing her sincerity. “I assure you, Miss Jennings, the pleasure is all mine.” He bowed his head toward her before beginning to resume their walk. “I’m the Head of the Department of the Beast Division.” Percy admitted, realizing that his job was rather dull to talk about. “So, no, I don’t often find myself - ” How had she phrased it? “Chasing illegal sales to muggles. Typically I’m involved in the reports of such activities and the paperwork surrounding them.” He could feel the weight of his cane in his hand at such a comment - a constant reminder that he likely would never really return to the field. “It’s not particularly glamorous.”

“Although, I think my sisters are grateful for that.” He added after a moment, reflecting on the events that had led to his promotion. The troll, the leg injury, the cane. That, however, was not a subject he wished to discuss.

“If you don’t mind my prying, how is it that you live in Irvingly rather than London?” Percy found himself asking, rather desperate to change the topic from himself.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

Yes she liked dancing, but there was only so much dancing someone could do before their feet started to hurt and the thought crept in that you might never want to dance again. Or at least that was how it worked for her.

She'd never thought too much about the factor the higher one ranked, the less actual work you would get to do and the more paperwork there would be to your name. It honestly sounded... dreadfully boring. But saying that aloud would likely be considered quite rude, even if he had alluded to the same idea himself. "It is still important though, I suppose, even if it is not as fun. But if you wanted to go out, what is stopping you? Could you ask some of the others to take over some of the paperwork? I'm sure it wouldn't matter who actually did it as look as you look over it in the end."

She paused, thinking about her brothers for a moment. None worked anything that could possibly be considered dangerous. She had never needed to worry about whether they would come home that night. But the idea, well she didn't even want to think about it. She wasn't the closest to all of them anymore, now that they were all spread out, but she wrote to James and Robert often. She didn't have to worry one of them simply would face something and come out seriously injured or dead.

Her thoughts immediately turned to his next words and she froze midstep, faltering before continuing. It was one thing to admit you had been jealous of your siblings' magic and an interest in the world. It was another matter entirely to confess to her desperation - as an adult - to stay in a world that wasn't her's so badly that she had moved to a new town - the only town where muggles and wizards knew of each other and interacted - across the country, just so she could try and find a wizard to marry her. Just so she never needed to leave the magical world, not because she'd found someone she loved. Flush crept up the back of her neck and she could feel the heat starting to rise to her cheeks as well, much to her further embarrassment.

She hadn't lied to Mr. Adlard yet, and so far he hadn't seemed to cast negative judgment on her, but that surely would be pushing his limits. She couldn't imagine anyone would not judge her for such desperate, pathetic wishes. It wasn't that she didn't know she was pathetic, but she just couldn't stop. She'd tried so hard to let the magical world go. After all, it was never hers, to begin with, she'd only been spared brief glimpses that she should never have received. She would have never known about magic to begin with if it wasn't for her deepest secret - that of her mother's suspected affair.

"My bro-" she started, her voice cracking as she started. "My brother and sister both live here. They both work at St. Mungos. After they settled down here, I moved in with them, back in '87. I wanted to try and start to fix our relationships. It was my fault they fell out."

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

He chuckled at the idea of finding a way around the paperwork. “Sadly, unless the rest of my staff is indisposed like they are today, I’m needed back at the office.” But there was one very large thing keeping him from doing what she said beyond his staff, his lame leg. Percy simply couldn’t do the same things he had once been able to. “Besides, I’d doubt if they’d like it if I gave them paperwork and was paying them to be in the field.” He shrugged, thinking of himself when he had just been another employee of the division.

Miss Jennings paused for the first time in the conversation long enough that Percy looked from those around them to her. There was a faint pink to her cheeks that instantly had Percy wondering what he had said. He had thought such a question was innocuous enough, but now he was definitely regretting it.


Her answer though, hardly seemed a thing to be embarrassed by. “That seems rather admirable.” Percy started, feeling awkward and wondering how to set them back on the course of their previous pleasant conversation. That definitely didn’t include inquiring just how she felt she could blame herself for two siblings not getting along. “Has it worked?” He asked, hoping this too was not prying or would not make her uncomfortable. But he had absolutely no idea how to steer them away from the subject they were fixed on.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

"That is silly logic. You joined to do field work, not paperwork, why should you be any different? Beside, wouldn't it make more sense for the person overseeing each case do the paperwork for each case? After all, they would know it best. Even from an efficiency standard having one person do it all makes no sense. But I suppose there probably are over all papers. And what do I know?" she chuckle snorted, "I've never worked a day in a job like that. It sounds like far to much stress." As if small children weren't stress.

He didn't question her stumble, which earned him extra points in her book. "Slowly. I'm getting closer to them again but I'm unsure if we will ever be where we once were. It is sad though. By trying to be closer to my magical siblings - I distance myself from my one muggle brother. He doesn't like magic at all. But we had grown closer when I got father from my magical siblings. I can't make everyone happy."

"Tell me about your siblings. I'm surely talking to much about myself."

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

Percy chuckled softly, “Some days it is.” He admitted. He’d never been an overly ambitious man and having watched others promoted had never inclined him to fight for a position himself. But as the years had gone on he’d found himself thrust up the ladder and now that he was there… it wasn’t what he had expected, but he had found it suited him.

“It seems one can rarely make everyone happy.” Percy agreed. “Although, I hope time helps in your case.” It would be a shame to have a family divided like that.

“Oh, well I have two younger sisters.” Which he had mentioned before, he reminded himself. “Catherine and Felicity. Both of them are younger.” What else to tell her from there? That they desperately wanted to see him marry? That Catherine’s heart had been broken when her husband died in the plague? That Felicity had hardly mourned her fiance for the love of his best mate? None of these things seemed something to admit to a complete stranger. “You remind me a bit of them, actually.” Percy admitted with a slight shrug.

Out of the corner of his eye something caught his attention. A man was skirting around the crowds in the direction of the creature stall, his eyes shifting and hunched as if he were hiding something in his jacket. “On your right,” Percy started, making a point of looking straight ahead. “Gray overcoat. Hunched. Does he seem like who you saw?” Percy continued to steer them down the street in the opposite direction.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

Wouldn't that be lovely? If you could make everyone happy at once? It would probably make the world a whole lot better if a place. People would be far more prone ti get along. People would be able to see the grey, not just the black and white. But that was impossible. You couldn't make everyone happy when people had such a concrete definition of what was right and wrong. She shrugged, sceptical at his hope. She would love that but James had such strong opinions and it wasn't like the magical ones of the bunch could change their nature. It seemed a recipe for failure with her toting dangerously on a thin line in the middle.

She perked back up as Mr. Adlard started to talk about his sisters. She could tell he was fond of them by the tone of his face and the look in his eyes. Good. There were enough broken families Annabeth was glad he wasn't one of them. "If that is the case, I'm sure they are lovely. I've been told I am," she retorted lightly, not meaning anything negative just trying to make him laugh. He'd put on such serious airs with the past conversation and she no longer wanted to dwell on her siblings.

Upon his instruction she started to turn her head to see where he reference instinctively, catching the action halfway through. Looking directly at him was sure to scare him off again if it was - every spy book said that. Covering the motion, she pulled Percy towards a table as if she was inspecting a bracelet the booth sold that put the supposed suspect in better eyeline.

"I think so," she started slowly, "He is wearing a hat now so I cannot see his face but his hight and build match, and his outfit looks right. The colors and cut."

... What is he holding?"

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

Her unexpected comment made Percy laugh in surprise. No many ladies had the confidence of humor to tease like that, but she had. Looking back at the lady he viewed her in a new light as she followed his directions and looked at the man. She was pretty, sweet, and charming. With a vivacious light that he appreciated. From what she had said it seemed as if she knew a bit of difficulty and family tension, something he had found many young ladies did not understand in the least. But most importantly she had been candid and open with Percy.

He was pulled from he musing by her taking the lead and heading to a booth. He was delighted to see her discretion as she toyed with a bracelet. It was as if she were a natural at this. Nodding at her observations (keenly noted), he took her elbow again and with a nod to the stall keeper lead them in the direction the man was traveling. “I’m not sure, but let’s find out. Shall we?” It shouldn’t be a ‘we’, Percy’s training knew that, but she was proving to be incredibly helpful… and he wasn’t quite ready to part ways yet even though he knew he should.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

A grin graced her face as he started to laugh, a shot of excitement and pleasure lacing through her. She'd been trying to get him to laugh the whole time they had been talking, ever since he'd seemed to start to stress and she'd kept on about her depressing life story. (Not that she would actually trade her family for the world, they had their issues but still, she loved each one of them.) His laugh was nice, it sounded natural, rather than the forced laugh she always heard at balls. More like what she heard at home and from the children who were still too young to worry about being judged.

She would have died laughing herself if she'd known that he thought her a natural. Natural likely wouldn't be the best terminology. The better wording would have been she had far too much free time and had read far too many novels. She liked the mystery and adventure ones, maybe because they made up for ones she thought she had missed out on. As he started to tug her away, she hurridly set the bracelet down, smiling sheepishly at the man, making a mental note to return and purchase something later.

"Of course, lead the way, Mr. Adlard," she chimed, though secretly content for him to once more take the lead. Watching someone from a distance, cool, that she could do. Confronting a wizard with a bunch of pissy animals, not really something she wanted to take the lead in.

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set

Percy steered them through the small crowd that was Irvingly's market goers, easily keeping the man in his sights. The man arrived back at the creatures stall, leaning over it, whatever had been in his coat hopped onto the table... it looked like a bowtruckle. Suspicions confirmed, Percy sighed. "And this is where I leave you, duty calls." He explained, turning to the young woman. "It truly was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the assistance." Percy bowed to her and turned to start toward the gentleman, but something stopped him. He turned back to the lady. "I hope our paths meet again." He found himself impulsively admitting.

  

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Pretties from Lady <3

Annabeth wasn't entirely sure how the man she was following had given up this thrill for sitting at a desk doing paperwork. She'd never thought of herself much of an adventurer or thrill seeker but she was certainly having fun assisting this man in his detective work. It helped he hadn't chased her off any of the multitude of times she'd expected him to. Not when she'd confessed to being a muggle. Not when she'd confessed to knowing far more than she should about his world. Not when the man had come back either, rather he'd let her tail along to see the conclusion. And he'd played her knight in shining armor, even if he insisted on not being called such. But then again, she'd never actually truly been in danger once she figured, glancing at his cane as he walked before her, wondering if its use had spurted from his job. She supposed the danger could eventually wear on one and then, she supposed, she understood the appeal of setting down the badge - or wand in this case - and leaving the adventures to someone else.

"Thank you, Mr. Adlard, this has certainly become far more of an unforgettable than I ever expected, and you certainly had a large part in that." She nodded her farewell, not yet moving, unwilling yet to lose this new little potential friendship she'd found. He turned back around after a few steps, and she offered a grin as he spoke again. "Me as well, now you go enjoy your paperwork." Annabeth chuckled at her own jest, and started on her own way realizing half way down the ally that he still hadn't told her what the man had been carrying. She turned back to ask but he was already gone.

  

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thank you bee for the absolutely lovely set