It wasn't every day that Percy went shopping for robes. In fact, he rarely did, but the day's circumstances led him to reconsidering his usual 'no spending money on unnecessary frivolities' rule. Someone at the Ministry had decided it might be fun to turn one of the traveling toilets into an actual working toilet, and when he'd stepped in, his shoes, socks, and hem of his robes (a rather smart set of robes, too) had been soaked through.
It was disgusting, to say the least, and Percy had hardly been able to sit through the remainder of the day without inspecting his lower half. He was sure that the marks of his unfortunate accident were still visible, and had to wonder if someone had charmed the toilet so that it wouldn't disappear. It was with great scrutiny that he eyed his fellow Ministry employees' robes, hoping to see the tell-tale signs that would let him know that he wasn't the only one.
He hadn't seen any.
When one of Madam Umbridge's file clerks had asked him if the window in his office was leaking, he finally decided to call it an early day (and he'd make up the hours soon, no doubt) and go find himself a new pair of robes. At the very least, perhaps he'd buy some decent shoes. The drying charms he'd used on his had done something very strange to their leather sheen. He lamented the loss of them.
He entered Madam Malkins quickly, and without a Probity Probing, which was a small blessing, since they were becoming more and more common. The racks were filled with robes, but Percy swept past this seasons line, heading to the back, where the sale racks were. He didn't have a lot of money to spare and had made the decision to keep a decent amount of money in his vault savings, should there be an emergency later. Only after he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye did he notice Fleur, and he immediately became doubly interested in the set of robes in his hands, which happened to be a horrible burnt orange color. He rather hoped that if he pretended not to see her, she'd do the same.