Percy picked up a bit of his fish and ate slowly. He was glad he'd told Penny but now it felt like he had ruined their lovely reunion. He had been so happy to see her, and now a dark cloud had descended over the flat. He felt guilty for ruining their evening and then annoyed with himself for feeling guilty. His emotions were so up and down that it was ridiculous.
"You should find out how to cast the protection charms," Percy said. "Other people might not be as careful about casting their barrier spells." He felt as worried for Penny as he did for his family. He would hate for her to catch the disease just after coming home.
"Thanks," he said as Penny touched his arm. "I'm okay really. It's not as bad as when I first got it. It's mainly memory loss that's my worst symptom now. But I should tell you that Ginny and George have it too."
Percy felt his eyes prickle and grow hot and blinked rapidly, willing himself not to cry. This was a stupid, ridiculous reaction. He was trying to reassure Penny, not make her worry about him. It was just that talking about Ginny and George seemed even more difficult than telling her about himself. He spoke the rest of what he had say whilst looking into his mug of wine.
"George has no symptoms at all now, but he lost his magic. Ginny is a lot better than she was, they're both back at work." Percy didn't know what else to say now. He still felt on the verge of tears. He supposed it had been a rather stressful few weeks. Once things got back to normal he would be alright.