Percy shook his head. "You don't have to justify yourself, Cass. I didn't bring your mother up to hurt you or make you feel bad. I wouldn't do that. I'd never use your mother like that." He'd lost his own mother long before her death, and he would never hurt another person like that, not even the twins and that said it all.
"I'm also not competing with her. Or anyone else. I never thought you'd make the choice you did, so it was never an issue for me. I always assumed that you'd get tired of me." He sighed. "Do you know the funny thing?" Although if he thought about it, it wasn't funny at all. "I always thought it wouldn't last. I knew - I absolutely knew that you wouldn't be able to stay faithful, but I still gave it a try, and I still put my reputation on the line. I just never considered that Lestrange would be the one to find out."
He sat back on the bed, staring at Cass. "I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Maybe I'm just saying that it wouldn't be so bad... to be with Bones. Maybe this can't work out no matter what we do. I can't give Lestrange this kind of power, Cass, not with Umbridge running around. I mean she had that question about living with another man... she'd make such a huge deal about us and that's not even factoring in that you work for me. The first I could fight, but the second, she'd be right. You can't be together while you work for me. It's impossible. I'm sorry."