A Magical Summer

Les devoirs

   Sally handed these items to Percy and sent him into the dining room where Remus was currently sitting with the teens doing summer homework. Percy frowned at this and mumbled something about a headache. He sent a pleading look towards his stepfather in an obvious attempt to get out of doing work and when he was ignored, he trudged over to the dining room.

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Remus' POV

   I sat with the teens, helping them with their summer homework for the hour Molly required of them before the Weasley kids and Harry decided that they had enough and headed back upstairs to better entertain themselves. Percy (Jackson) still sat there long after they left, clicking his pen and and tapping his foot as his eyes slowly scanned over the pages of his book. He looked rather stressed, and kept rubbing his eyes with his free hand as he attempted to get though the material. Finally, I couldn't watch the kid suffer though it any longer.

"Do you need any help with that?"

"What?-" He exclaimed, jumping out of his seat,"Oh, no I've got it,"

"It looks like you've been on the same page for the past five minutes there,"

"Just a little headache," He attempted to reassure me, but it wasn't very effective as he broke off into an almost soundless fit of coughing and clutched his chest- right where the stunners hit.

   The stunners, four of them, I suddenly remembered. They didn't have any immediate side affects, but what if they had left some more permanent damage? I was about to walk to the other side of the table and attempt to help him get over his coughing fit, or possibly go find his parents, when suddenly it stopped.(**)

"I'm okay," He said, though I was unsure if he was trying to reassure me or himself "Just a headache- and asthma,"

   I could relate to how awful the poor kid was feeling. Percy looked older and (more) sleep deprived compared to the previous night, though I had no idea what the cause was. I looked similar around the full moon, but felt great at the moment considering it was a new moon and the farthest point away from both the previous and the next moon.(***)

   Percy turned back to his book and continued to attempt to get through the material. He had dropped his pen and was now holding his head with one hand and his chest with the other. Quite frankly, it looked like he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to breath again. I didn't get what he was trying to accomplish by 'reading', considering the recent coughing fit could've only made the kid's headache worse.

"Would you like some help with that?" I repeated my question from earlier.

"What do you know about the ancient Roman mythology?"

This reply took me off guard. Magic schools studied mythology as the basis for magical creatures, astronomy and some history. What could the relevance be to a muggle college?

"I'm stuck on this myth about King Lycaon," He continued. I felt my blood run cold at the mention of this myth.

"The werewolf myth," I explained with a slight grimace,"It is said that-"

"I know what the myth is about," Percy interrupted, "But what's the lesson? Why would the Romans keep an originally Greek myth?"

"I believe it teaches to show respect, in a sense, and how deplorable actions typically get punished in the end,"

"The gift that keeps on giving," He said with a scoff, "King Lycaon kept his mind even as a wolf, he didn't need to lose it to do awful things, he was already a monster. But all of those that he turned-"

"-Are actual monsters," I finish, not even attempting to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"Are forced to do monstrous things one night a month without their consent," Percy said sending me a calculating look, "But it's not their fault,"

I opened my mouth to retort, but promptly closed it. Why was I arguing to a muggle kid against werewolves? Against myself? Before I could formulate a proper reply, we were rudely interrupted.

"I've been sent to retrieve you for the Order meeting," came the haughty voice, "Are you coming, Wolf?"

I sighed in resignation, as I left the room with Percy following behind. He casted me a curious look at the nickname, but said nothing. I was glad about that, but I doubted he could hold his tongue for long. This would be a long day.

A/N- Thanks for reading! I appreciate all of the lovely comments and I hope this hasn't been too cliche. I've rewritten the end of this chapter way too many times, hence the delay.

(*)The DSTOMP the entrance exam for New Rome. I'd like to bet that they refuse to translate it into Greek. I doubt that the prejudice that many Romans faced towards the Greeks ended immediately. I would also like to point out that Percy is intelligent, but has issues viewing the gods with as much respect as the Romans do, and finding 'lessons' from the terrible things that the gods do.

(**) McGonagall got hit with five stunners to the chest and was sent to St. Muggos. Though all demigods have a resistance to magic (see battle of Manhattan) Percy isn't completely immune.

(***) Both the full moon and new moon cause more extreme variation in tides by messing with gravity. Remus might feel great on a new moon, but with Percy's connection to the sea, I doubt he does.