Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries

4) I'm In Me Friend's Car, Broom Broom

Harry was tense from the unwanted liftoff, but the stiffness soon washed away, replaced with something like relaxation. I, on the other hand, was terrified.

I'd never been a fan of heights. Sometimes, even riding Arion, my goddess-made broom of sexiness, I'd look down and have to fight the sudden urge to pass out. That's why I didn't really look down during Quidditch (I'd be a terrible Seeker). Riding Harry's broom, which was a lot less son-of-Poseidon friendly, was a lot more terrifying. After about ten seconds of flying I'd forgotten about being cool around Harry and was squeezing his wait in some attempt to save me from the not-so-inevitable fall to my death. Thankfully, I knew Harry wouldn't tease me, because I've seen him cry at the sight of a clown, and this was before the It movies came out.

"Hard left, hard left, there's a Muggle looking up!" Moody shouted. Tonks swerved and Harry followed. My stomach did a somersault, and I could suddenly see me on the ground as a Percy-pancake. "We need more height.... Give it another quarter of a mile!"

"I always need more height," I snorted, looking up at the clouds. They were much more inviting than the ground. I decided to just close my eyes once I realized Zeus was up there and strike me with more electricity than you'd see on a fork in a microwave.

"Bearing south!" Moody yelled. "Town ahead!" We soared to the right, passing over a glittering town of lights. I wondered how a citizen would feel if I fell on top of their car. I hope their insurance covers it.

"Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!" Moody called.

"We're not going through clouds!" I shouted. "Zeus will definitely kill me if we do that. And, more importantly, we'll get soaked!"

"You're immune to getting soaked, Percy," Harry said.

"Yeah, but no one else here is," I said. I knew everyone else would have a really rough time if we all got drenched. My hands were already numb, and I had been shivering for a few minutes. I should've brought a coat.

Every now and then, we'd alter course according to Moody's direction. Every time we changed direction, a new image of me dead on the ground flashed across my mind. Normally, I didn't imagine myself as dead, but heights just had this way of screwing with my head and giving me bad thoughts. Just like Lucius Malfoy and the color red.

We must've been flying for about an hour. The trip had been much better when we were able to Apparate thanks to some forgetful fool who forgot to remove demigods from the list of magical creatures that were allowed to Apparate. It would take a lot to change that law, and I knew Fudge wouldn't put in the effort, especially since Dumbledore, a very prominent figure in our little wizarding world, was a demigod himself.

"Turning southwest!" Moody shouted. "We want to avoid the motorway!"

"I vote we don't avoid the motorway and steal a car," I said, and Harry hummed in agreement. Oh how great those warm cars sounded.

The Order members surrounding us started swooping around, and I pulled back from Harry, taking a sweeping look around.

"No Eaters, Mad-Eye," I called.

"We still ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed!" Moody called back to me.

"ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?" Tonks screeched. "We're all frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off course we're not going to get there until next week! We're nearly there now!"

"Time to start the descent!" Lupin called quickly, so that Moody couldn't make us turn around. "Follow Tonks, Harry!"

Harry followed Tonks in a dive. I didn't scream, because I'm awesome and brave that way. It definitely had nothing to do with my voice getting caught in my throat. The lights beneath us were bright and the corners were dark.

"Here we go!" Tonks called, and a few seconds later she landed. Harry touched down right behind her, and I dismounted very gracefully and fearlessly. We were in the middle of a small square I recognized very well. I'd been spending most of my summer in one of the house's there.

The houses looked unwelcoming from the outside. They were grimy and many had broken windows. The paint was peeling and piles of garbage littered many yards.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"In a minute," I muttered, the others landing around us.

Moody rummaged around in his coat pocket, "Got it." He pulled out a silver cigarette lighter and clicked it.

The nearest street light went out with a small pop. He clicked the lighter again, and the next lamp went out. He kept clicking until every light in the square was extinguished, and we could only see from the moonlight and the lights coming from the nearby buildings.

"That's not yours," I said, looking at Moody. His magical eye flitted towards me.

"Borrowed it from Dumbledore," Moody growled, pocketing the lighter. "That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now, come on, quick." He grabbed Harry by the arm and I forced my still wobbly legs to follow them. Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry's things between them.

"Here," Moody muttered, handing Harry a piece of parchment, holding his wand close to it as to illuminate the writing. "Read quickly and memorize."

I knew exactly what the slip of paper said. I'd been with Sirius when it was written.

The Order of the Phoenix can be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

I miss Vine. My sister keeps coming in my room to take my pennies, and it's starting to get annoying. Like genuinely, I know she's joking, but all she does is take them and pretend to leave, acting as if she isn't gonna give them back. I'd like it better if she left, because I can't do anything else while she's messing with me. She got mad at me last night because I didn't hear her over YouTube. She sent me messages about how I was ignoring her, but I really hadn't meant to. It's okay. I'm secretly her favorite. Flannel man just said he'd see us later. Goodbye, flannel man. People came in and talked to us and it was scary. This one guy, my grandma talked bad about him to me, and as soon as I heard his name I was like Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. We've been here for an hour and a half and still, one sell. It's the day before Thanksgiving though, so it'll probably be slow all day, until the random rush of people that all come to the register at once and stress me out. Some lady set off the Elmo toy, and it wouldn't stop laughing. My favorite part had to be when she mocked it by copying the laugh.