InsaneJournal

Percy stood for a moment, letting the smell of salt and ocean air waff over him before he opened the gate and knocked on the door.  He really liked this place, its quiet remoteness and its proximity to the ocean.  He'd thought once or twice in the past about getting a place similar to it.  At the time, it had seemed a fanciful notion and not practical.   He liked living in the city, being able to walk to various places, like the Muggle bakery he had visited before arriving.  There was a fullness to his life living in the city; he knew it was because once he was home, he was utterly alone and he only had to walk out the door to feel surrounded.  But he yearned for this tranquil setting.  Shell Cottage was a place that represented stability to Percy, stability and marriage and family.  These were things Percy yearned for, although he had never voiced his secret wants to anyone. 

It puzzled him that he was thinking about these kinds of things again.  But he knew it stemmed from meeting Lavender.  In her existence, she seemed even more alone than he felt sometimes, and he felt this urge to go to her, to comfort her and chase away that isolation.  He'd found he could not stop thinking about her.  Writing in the journals with her made it abundantly clear to himself, if not to her, that he liked her, and wanted to get to know her better.  He kept playing out different scenarios of places they could go together, the things they could do together.  He hadn't even allowed himself to dwell on things more basic and physical; his visions focused mainly on spending time with her listening to music, walking and visiting all sorts of places like parks and museums and shops, of eating together and looking at her across a table.   His favorite fantasy was of the two of them, reading books, with her snuggled up against his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair.....

Percy shook himself, gathering himself back to the present.  That last image did things to him, and sent his thoughts off to an area very wild and passionate; he couldn't allow himself the luxury of those  types of fantasies.  He had yet to even ask her out.  But there was something about her vulnerable fragility that drew her to him; it stirred this need to be a hero to her, to protect her and comfort her. 

This is absolute insanity!  I have to stop fantasizing about her! he thought to himself as he knocked on the door, and turned the handle.

"Hello?  Bill? Fleur?  It's Percy!  I've brought you all some treats," he said as he moved into the door, the two pink boxes wrapped in string under his bag.  He'd picked up an assortment of muffins and scones for both Fleur and Lavender.  Somehow, he knew that Fleur would appreciate it as much as Lavender.