Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: So this was really hard for me, but I finally think I got it :) hope you like it! Written for:

QLFC rnd 10: harpies' seeker: department of international magical cooperation; hg comp: "If desperate times call for desperate measure, then I'm free to act as desperately as I wish." disney character comp: copper: write about Percy; hogwarts fair: kissing booth: a romance that centers around a first, over 1000 words; hp chps comp: boy who lived: write about the start of something;

Dates

The first time Percy Weasley met Audrey Finch, he was nervous and overwhelmed and overall entirely not in the right state.

But he did think she was quite pretty.

Though it was not, under any circumstances, a date. It was a professional meeting between two professionals about a very important upcoming event. In one month's time, the Triwizard Tournament would be taking place at Hogwarts. For Percy, that meant a very stressful time in which Bartemius Crouch was stressed out even more so. Making new plans, plans in the working stages, and finalizing plans, and all of these plans were Percy's plans and they had to be done to Percy's planning perfection.

Or so Mr. Crouch says.

Mr. Crouch was also the one to tell him he'd be attending lunch with a Miss Audrey Finch, assistant to the Department Head of Magical Games and Sports, she'll be outside the Leaky at two. Make sure you go over all of Ludo's Bloody Bagman's ludacris ideas with her, and then promptly shoot them all down, Mr Weatherby. Also, you'll need to inform her that she must inform Bagman his input is not needed for the time being, or ever. And then, you must explain to her the details of our finalized plans and make sure she understands so that Ludo does as well. This needs to be done quite quickly since we're so close, and once you two work out the final details, I won't have him messing this up and we can go back to not speaking quite often, which would be wonderful. I haven't met the witch before, though I'm sure she's double that of Bagman, be happy it's her and not him. And when you're done, Wellington, my tea has is hot and rapidly cooling, thank you.

That's how Percy remembered it, at least.

Needless to say, he was not looking forward to lunch and as far as he was concerned, Audrey Finch could be the most gorgeous, brilliant witch on the planet and it would not, and could not mess with his work and the things he had to get done. Nevermind the fact that Penelope had dumped him two months before graduation.

Which, by the way, was quite a lot.

So he met Audrey Finch at the Leaky at two and she was not the most gorgeous, brilliant witch on the planet.

But she was damn near close.

"Audrey," she said when he approached, flashing him a smile and extending a hand "it's nice to meet you. We've a lot to get done, unfortunately, so shall we get going?"

He stammered a little, at first, caught by the dancing sunlight in her eyes. "Percy," he got out. "Percy Weasley. Lovely to make your acquaintance, Miss Finch." She laughed, and if his mind weren't filled with the laundry list of things he had to do, it might have gotten through his skull as a pretty sound.

"Just Audrey, please. It's still so strange that people address us as that now, isn't it? Back at Hogwarts it was just Audrey, wasn't it? Miss Finch from the Professors, but now we're adults and we call each other that. I'm only eighteen, it makes me feel so old and professional. It's exciting though, isn't it?"

With a start, Percy realized he knew this girl. She was a quiet Hufflepuff, always kind, always pretty, always smart, but never really in the center of things and therefore never really noticeable. He regrets not trying to make friends with another shy classmate, since he could relate so well. But they seemed to be getting along just fine now, so he thought it was worthless to live in the past.

"That's right, you were a Hufflepuff. I remember you. You're awful different from back then, though, and it was only two months ago, now." She blushed a little, and Percy felt himself turn bright red. "No! No— that's not what I-" he stammered. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I didn't mean to put my foot in my mouth."

She waved it off, but he could tell she was still embarrassed. "It's fine. It's just the job, I guess; I didn't think I was going to get it, but I feel a lot more confident now. It's just - I guess I don't know. Something about being in the real world."

"Yeah," he simply echoed, "the real world."

She only smiled.

"Let's get something to eat, then?" he said after a moment. She nodded, and they took a booth in the middle. She laid their papers in front of them.

(Definitely not a date.)

"So, the first task is going to be in line with these specifics, correct?" She handed him a paper with everything that, presumably, Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch had discussed. He knew what it was supposed to be, as Mr. Crouch had relayed all of these specifics to him, and he confirmed that they matched.

"Now, Mr. Bagman had an additional idea for the first task..."

They talked about work from then on forward, and although it wasn't the most exciting of tasks, he was certainly grateful it was with Audrey.

(But that was just fine.)

"As for the third task, he had the marvelous idea of putting creatures into the maze, as well."

(And that's how he found himself taking quite the scolding from his boss, after he relayed the changes made to the very detailed, very not-so-finalized plans.)

The second time Percy met Audrey was much more eventful, and that is a story for a different time.

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