The weather was perfect as the train wound through the countryside. Hedwig and Saffi slept with their heads under their wings, Saffi on Annabeth's lap and Hedwig on the luggage rack above her. Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, was curled up on an empty seat, and Ron's mini owl, Pigwideon, buzzed around in his cage like an excited bee until Ron threw his dress robes over the owl's cage to quiet him.
They talked mostly about Voldemort and what Dumbledore was planning to do to stop him, and finally Annabeth got the chance to ask Freddie what she would be doing.
"Well..." Freddie glanced at Annabeth. Annabeth could tell her friend didn't want to admit that her parents were actually bad people in front of the others.
"Will this help?" she asked. "My mother turned a woman into the first spider because they tied in a weaving contest."
"Yeah, that helps," Freddie said. She turned to the others. "My parents are death eaters— well, they were, before, so they are now, I guess." she looked back at Annabeth. "Dumbledore doesn't want me outright spying on them, like seeking stuff out, I guess. But if I'm in earshot, or they don't actually know I'm there, I'm going to eavesdrop and report back to Dumbledore. I'll do more, too. Dumbledore doesn't have to know I'll be following them."
The conversation moved on after that, but they still talked about Voldemort. Finally, Hermione asked the question Annabeth knew had been coming.
"But, Annabeth... how did you survive? A love shield? From who?"
Annabeth hesitated. There were a lot of options on who it was from, but lately she had been thinking of that dream she'd had, well, the memory, about Thalia sacrificing herself for Annabeth and Luke. Maybe this was why she'd had it. It wasn't just a random nightmare, it was a message. But did she want to share that? Freddie already knew, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione... but she trusted them. They were her friends, even Ron.
"Thalia," She said finally. "When I was seven, I lived on the streets with her, and a guy named Luke. They took care of me, but we were three inexperienced demigods running around, and we tended to attract monsters. Then Grover, a satyr, found us, and he was bringing us to safety, but we were being followed by a lot of monsters. Thalia stayed back to hold them off. She didn't exactly die, but she meant to, and I think that's what did it."
Hermione pressed her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"It was a long time ago," Annabeth said, shrugging. "I'm past it. Thalia's fine now."
Luckily, the snack trolley came by before anyone could ask about Luke. When Hermione got back, she returned her money to her bag and pulled out a newspaper like she had forgotten about it before.
"There's nothing in there," she said calmly at Harry's look. "You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece after the third task saying you two won the tournament. They didn't even mention you-know-who. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."
"He'll never keep Rita quiet," Harry said. "Not about this."
"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," Hermione said in a slightly strained voice. "As a matter of fact, Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, smiling a little. "What did you do?"
"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be in the grounds," Hermione said hurriedly, looking nervous.
"How was she doing it?"
"How did you find out?"
"Well," Hermione said, "it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry."
"Did I?" Harry looked bewildered. "How?"
"Bugging," Hermione said, excited now.
"But you said that didn't work—"
"Not electronic bugs! No, you see, Rita Skeeter... is an unregistered animagus. She can turn—" Hermione pulled a jar out of her bag— "into a beetle."
"You're kidding," Ron said. "You haven't— she's not—"
"Oh yes she is," Hermione said proudly. Inside the jar, there were a few twigs, leaves, and one large beetle. "I caught her on the window sill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."
"There was a beetle in the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madam Maxime about his mum!" Harry exclaimed.
"Exactly," Hermione said. "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination tower the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."
"There was a beetle when I talked to Hagrid about being a demigod," Annabeth realized. "Hey, can I see that for a second?"
Hermione handed it over. Annabeth held it to eye level to look at the beetle, which was definitely Rita. Aside from the markings, the beetle had that same mischievous air about her. Annabeth smiled slightly, then gave the jar a good shake.
"Let's see how well you handle your life being turned upside down," she told the beetle.
"Annabeth!" Hermione snatched the jar back. She shook her head, but otherwise she didn't really seem too upset about it. "I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London. I've put an unbreakable charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's got to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."
Hermione put the jar back in her bag just as the compartment door opened to reveal everyone's favorite brooding twit, Draco Malfoy. He was flanked by his two friends/bodyguards, and all three looked extremely smug.
"Very clever, Granger," Malfoy said as he entered the compartment. "So, you caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter is Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal."
"It's very nice of you to come visit," Annabeth said, crossing her arms and smirking. "You really care, huh?"
Malfoy's gaze turned to her. "Don't get me started on you, Chase. Hanging out with Gryffindors all the time. And you've looped Henningson into it, too? You're an insult to the Slytherin name, the way you act."
"Oh, it's not just Freddie," Annabeth said. Absentmindedly she reached for her wand, before she remembered that she had lost it in the graveyard. "Vera should be here soon. She was just busy, somewhere down by your compartment? You should stay awhile. Hang out."
"You've picked the wrong side, both of you!" Malfoy said, though he did look a little nervous. He turned and left at a pretty quick pace, probably to see whatever was happening in his compartment.
Harry looked at Annabeth. "What's Vera doing in his compartment?"
"Nothing," Annabeth said, shrugging. "I don't know where she is."
"Nice one, Annabeth."
Annabeth looked up to see Fred and George Weasely standing there, looking in the direction that Malfoy and his goons had gone.
"Exploding snap, anyone?" Fred asked, pulling out a deck of cards.
Vera found them somewhere during their third game, and she joined in very eagerly. Turns out she actually did do something to a compartment, but it was Pansy's and not Malfoy's. Actually, that was probably the same one. Vera had gone through their stuff and thrown away all their quills, socks, and left shoelaces. And also covered their things in bubotuber pus.
George looked at Vera for a second before saying, "I like you. We'll be in contact over the summer."
"Bring it on," Vera said smugly.
The rest of the train ride was spent with Vera, Fred, and George discussing various pranks and mischief stuff over exploding snap. Vera kept deliberately trying to make the cards explode, much to the twins' delight. When the train pulled into King's Cross Station, the corridor filled with noise and confusion as everyone got their stuff and tried to leave.
"Go ahead," Annabeth told Vera and Freddie. "Harry and I have to take care of something."
"We'll wait by the front of the train," Freddie said, and she and Vera left.
"Fred— George," Harry said. "Wait a moment."
The twins turned around as Harry pulled the sack of galleons from his trunk. He and Annabeth had agreed on this days ago. Neither of them had any use for it.
"Take it," Harry said, shoving the sack at Fred and George.
"What?" Fred's mouth fell open.
"We don't want it," Annabeth said. "It's yours."
"You're mental," George said, trying to shove it back.
"Probably," Annabeth said.
"You take it and get inventing," Harry said. "It's for the joke shop."
"They are mental."
"Look," Annabeth said. "Either you take it, or we're just going to leave it here and it's going to go to waste. Your choice. Come on, Harry"
"One more thing," Harry said, taking a step towards the door. "Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."
With that, they left the compartment. The platform was packed, but Annabeth managed to find Vera and Freddie, now joined by Daisy. Daisy was in the loop about all of this too, but she didn't know about Freddie's plan or Annabeth's actual home. They wanted to keep that between as little people as possible, and though Vera had protested, Daisy was terrible at keeping secrets. Annabeth trusted her, but not the people around her, and someone could weasel it out of her while she was at home.
They joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were by Mrs. Weasley just beyond the barrier. Daisy spotted her father, so she kissed Vera, hugged Freddie and Annabeth, and ran off to meet him.
"Bye, Annabeth!" Hermione said, hugging her very tightly.
"See you," Ron said.
"Bye, Annabeth," Harry said.
Out of nowhere, Mrs. Weasely wrapped Annabeth up into a hug. "Wait for a letter," she whispered. "We'll need you."
Annabeth nodded and Mrs. Weasley let go.
"Where are your parents?" she asked Vera and Freddie.
"Late," Freddie said. "Like usual."
"Looks like mine are, too," Vera said, but she looked nervous.
"They'll come," Annabeth said. Then she spotted something— someone— in the crowd.
A certain someone with hair so blond it was almost white, skin pale as marble, and a black labrador at her heels. She was wearing the robes of a witch, and she was staring at Annabeth expectantly.
Annabeth looked at her friends. "Want to meet a goddess?"
***
"Hecate," Annabeth said when they reached her.
"Hello, Annabeth," Hecate said. She glanced at Vera and Freddie, raising her eyebrow. "I do not take additional witches."
Vera was staring at Hecate, eyes wide. "Can you give everyone in here a mustache?" she asked without preamble.
Hecate looked back at Annabeth, like, control your friend. As if she could.
"Oh," Freddie said, looking towards the entrance. "Those are my parents. I should go."
Annabeth hugged her friend, and then Vera hugged her.
"Good luck," Vera said, giving Freddie a squeeze. "Don't die."
"Don't get yourself murdered," Freddie returned. "I mean it. Stay out of trouble."
"Hey," Annabeth said as the two broke apart. "Remember, be discreet. Write everything in code and keep it hidden somewhere your parents will never find it. Use codes in your letters, okay? Make it look like something completely harmless, like recipes or something. Pretend you have a secret love of baking, maybe. That way, if your parents find anything, they won't know what it actually is."
"Got it," Freddie said. "Wow, for you that was like a declaration of love. I appreciate it."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Good luck."
Freddie nodded, and then she was lost in the crowd.
After a few seconds, Vera said, "she'll be fine." she pulled out her wand. "Do you think I could give someone a mustache?"
Annabeth wasn't really concerned with the wand out in public. She had done weirder things, and no one had given a second look. Heck, she had once fought a giant boar when she was seven, and all anyone had seen was a feral cat.
"Ah, that reminds me," Hecate said, looking at Vera's wand. She blinked, and Vera's wand was out of her hand and in her pocket.
"Awesome," Vera muttered. She pulled her wand out. "Do it again."
Ignoring Vera, Hecate pulled something out of her sleeve. "Here. You'll need it."
"My wand," Annabeth said, taking it. It was the exact same one as before, with the rich dark wood and the olive branch carvings. It even had the few nicks from the times Annabeth had dropped it.
"Vera!"
Annabeth turned to see a young-ish couple, waving at Vera with two kids under ten years old running between their legs. Vera audibly breathed a sigh of relief as the two kids, a boy and a girl, ran over and tackled her.
Hecate moved away, wrinkling her nose as if kids were repulsive and must be avoided. The black lab, Hemera if Annabeth remembered right, just sat down and allowed the kids to pet her. Maybe she remembered being a human with her own kids.
"Vera!" the girl yelled, no more than five or six. "Come on!"
"If you messed up my room I'm going to fight you," Vera said, letting the kids grab her hands. She looked at Annabeth, smiling. "You'd better keep in touch over the summer."
"Of course," Annabeth said.
She hugged her friend, and then Vera was pulled off by her little siblings to her parents. You could never even tell there was a time when they weren't a family.
Annabeth looked back at Hecate.
"You knew this would happen," she said. "Voldemort returning. That's why you sent me into the fourth year and not the seventh. You knew I would have to come back."
"I know a lot more than that," Hecate said. "I am a goddess."
"But you can't tell me," Annabeth guessed.
"No," Hecate answered. Typical. "I cannot."
"Right." Annabeth sighed down her frustration. "Okay. I'm ready."
And once again, just like it had what felt like almost ten months before but was really less than one, the world darkened around her, but it didn't bother Annabeth this time. She let it happen without fighting. She would be back.