It was like a spell had been broken, and Percy also realized how close he was in proximity to her. He could almost smell her scent and he could definitely feel her form against his. But he had not offered rashly, "As long as your parents will not leave you alone, I can understand your hesitation at accepting my offer," he said, sounding slightly formal but pressing past it, "You should not hesitate to contact me, should some unforeseen situation arises and you find yourself without aide. Lavender, I have seen many things in my experience," he said, as he shifted away from her slightly, "And as much as you think your...afflictions may startle me, I can assure you, they would not," he said, meeting her eyes and giving her an encouraging smile.
"Of course you are well practiced at this," he added, his tone confident and not dwelling on her emotional reaction; it told him that as much as she protested that she was adjusted, she really was not dealing well with her changes to her life. It made his resolve to help her even stronger. He observed her move to distract him slightly and this time his smile was larger and more open, "I am a Weasley. How do you think we take our tea? Sweet, with lemon. It becomes more that treat that way," he said as he watched her prepare it, "Although I think I take it far less sweet than my brother Ron does. You two were well acquainted at one time, I recall. Do you see many of the old crowd from school?"
He wasn't sure how social she was; if she had slipped through the cracks with the Ministry, had she fallen out of communication with all of her old friends as well?