Fleur was like a brightly colored, highly-agitated bird swooping about him, nagging, prattling, rousing him to as severe a degree of anxiety as her own. Percy found that he wanted to wave her off like he might such a creature, swatting with his hand, but she was a witch and his sister-in-law, and he would not.
"I assure you, the occasion would not have been brightened by my attendance," he insisted, tone one of tight control. "It is more likely that my brothers, your husband included, would have resorted to brawling with me."
The quo to reach the goblin at the high, ornate counter was not long, and for this Percy was grateful, enough that his next words rushed from his lips, genuine.
"I did not have an owl post for you or I would have forwarded my congratulations."