"Three thousand eight hundred sixty four... three thousand eight hundred sixty five... three thousand eight hundred sixty six..."
"Would you cut it out?" Hermione yelled, snapping her book shut.
Ron lifted his head to look at her. "What else should I do?"
"Hm, let me think," Hermione shot sarcastically. "What could possibly be better than counting out the seconds from lunch to dinner? Go play quidditch with Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Fred, and George! Or do your summer homework! Which, by the way, has not left your trunk at all this summer."
"Besides, it's a simple mathematic equation," said Annabeth from the floor. "Lunch and dinner are precisely seven and a half hours from each other, from twelve to seven thirty, which is four hundred fifty minutes apart. Four fifty times sixty is twenty seven thousand."
"Cut the smart stuff," Piper said from next to Annabeth. "It's your turn."
Annabeth didn't look down. "Nico's going to win anyways," she said. "Mythomagic is like his domain."
"And Frank's," said Nico, watching a tiny Poseidon action figure battle a tiny Zeus action figure. Thanks to Hermione, they now actually moved, and it appeared the brother rivalry did not stop at being thumb sized plastic models.
The door opened. "Hey guys," Leo said.
Piper flew off the ground. "LEO!" she shouted, throwing her arms around the son of Hephaestus. Then she pulled away, wrapped her fist around his shirt, and yanked him off the ground. "HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH AN IDIOT?"
"MY GODS, LEO, YOU'RE SO DEAD."
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"YOU'RE GETTING A THREE SECOND HEAD START BEFORE--"
"What's going on?" Another voice asked. Nico's face grew very very red.
"WHAT ACTUALLY IS GOING ON?" Percy yelled.
"WHO ARE THEY?" Hermione asked.
"WHY ARE WE YELLING?" Screamed Ron.
"BE QUIET!" Chiron's voice boomed through the room. They fell silent. Only then did they realize they had awoken Mrs. Black again, but her screams were even drowned out by them. The centaur rubbed his temples then smiled tiredly at them all. "As you can see, Leo and Will are here."
Nico's face was still very very red.
"Yeah, we noticed," Thalia said.
"How?" Hazel asked in amazement.
"It's complicated, if you take in the factors of time and death and magic," said Chiron. (A/N basically I've given up trying to explain the whole time thing because I keep confusing myself in it too, so just go with it. This is fanfiction. Loopholes are okay)
"Well, I'm not complaining," Frank said. "I'm glad you're not dead." He briefly hugged Leo. Leo looked immensely surprised and awkwardly patted him back.
"Yeah, well it's going to take a lot more than Thanatos's black iPad to hold me," he joked.
"Hold up. Pause. Rewind." Ron made a time-out sign. "Who are you two?"
"I'll let you get acquainted," Chiron said quietly, backing out of the room. No one noticed him.
"This is Will Solace," Piper introduced. "And that's--"
"Supreme Commander Flaming McShizzle," Leo introduced. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"You really have to introduce yourself that way, don't you?" she muttered. Leo shot her a cheeky grin.
"You know it."
"That's Leo," Frank interjected. "He was dead."
"Ah." Ron nodded. "Good for you."
"I'm not even going to ask questions," said Jason. "I'm just glad you're here."
"I'm glad I'm here too," said Leo.
Suddenly, Hermione dropped her book, which landed with a clatter on the floor, the pages bent under it. "Harry!" she shrieked. "Ron, he's here! Harry! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you alright? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless, but we couldn't tell you anything-- Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us-- the dementors! When we heard-- and that Ministry hearing-- it's just outrageous! I've got it all looked up, they can't expel you, there's a provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations--"
Her babble stopped as Ron put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him breathe, Hermione," he said grinning.
Harry, however, wasn't. His smile from when he entered the room vanished, and he looked at Will and Leo skeptically. Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Nico were all chattering excitedly with them, seemingly unperturbed by the news that Harry had arrived.
Hermione followed his gaze and her shoulders slumped a bit. "Oh, don't mind them, they're just excited that their friends are here," she said.
Harry took a shaking breath in. His friends had other friends. So what? He had Ron and Hermione.
But it looked like those two had each other as they cast another anxious glance at each other, like they were sharing secret information, something that Harry did not appreciate.
"Look, mate," Ron said nervously. "We wanted to give you answers, but Dumbledore made us--"
"Swear not to tell me," Harry said shortly. "Yeah, I got that from Hermione."
Questions bubbled up inside of him angrily, like a burning hot potion. On top of it all was the mystery of the two new people, whom Harry assumed were demigods as well. A spark of annoyance flared through him. Didn't Percy care at all about him? The dementor attack, amongst other things? Being trapped in a house with people that hated him? Percy of all people should understand how that felt, from his story of Smelly Gabe. Harry had gone the entire summer without contact of any kind, not even an iris message or an owl. He took a deep breath and calmed the brewing anger.
"Dumbledore could've still kept me informed if he wanted to," Harry said suddenly. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls."
There it was again. That infuriating glance between his two best friends. "I thought that too," Hermione finally said. "But he didn't want you to know anything at all."
"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," Harry said, anger bubbling up inside of him again.
"Don't be thick," Ron said, looking highly disconcerted.
"Or that I can't take care of myself--"
"Of course he doesn't think that!" Hermione said anxiously.
"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while all of you get to join in everything that's going on here?" Harry demanded, his voice growing louder with each word. "How come all of you are allowed to know everything that's going on?"
"We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young--"
Something in Harry snapped, shattering like a piece of glass. "SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'RE STILL ALL TOGETHER! I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT-- WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"
He was perfectly aware that the demigods had stopped talking and were all staring quietly at him. He didn't care.
"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"
"Please, Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did!" Hermione shouted.
Harry turned furiously to her. "CAN'T HAVE WANTED THAT MUCH, CAN YOU? OR YOU'D'VE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR--"
"He did--"
"FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON, BUT I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER?"
"Harry!" Percy interjected, eyes wide. "We swear, we didn't mean any harm, we thought you'd be safer here--"
"OH, DON'T YOU GET STARTED!" Harry yelled, wheeling on the Son of Poseidon. "YOU THOUGHT I'D BE SAFER THERE. YOU MEAN YOU THOUGHT I COULDN'T HANDLE WHATEVER'S GOING ON HERE! THAT I CAN'T TAKE IT BECAUSE I'M NOT SPECIAL LIKE YOU GUYS. YOU ALL THINK MY LIFE IS SO LUXURIOUS COMPARED TO YOURS. THAT I'M LUCKY I'M LIVING SO WELL. NEWS FLASH, YOU'RE NOT SO HIGH AND MIGHTY. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN SUFFER."
"SHUT UP!" Nico roared. He was breathing heavily. "We get it, you're mad. You have a reason to be. But don't say we think we're better than you, because we're not. Trust me, we know what you're feeling."
Harry shot him a murderous glare. "See, that's just it. You think you know exactly what I'm feeling. You don't get it. You haven't been through everything in the world. Hell, this isn't even your world."
Suddenly, there were two very loud cracks, saving them from a very awkward silence.
"AARGH!" Hermione yelled. "Stop doing that!" she said weakly to the two Weasley twins who had just appeared.
They ignored her. "Hello, Harry," George said, beaming. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."
"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out," Fred added, patting Harry's back in the kind of sympathy that a parent would a child who had just dropped their ice cream.
"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" Harry grumbled, his arms folding.
"With distinction," said Fred, letting an Extendable Ear swing from his fingers. "Anyways, you're interfering with reception. Extendable ears," he added in Harry's questioning response. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs with the Order."
"Would anyone mind telling me what the Order of the--"
"It's a secret society," Hermione said quickly. "Dumbledore founded it in the old days to fight You-Know-Who."
"It's a very major meeting they're having today," George said mysteriously. "We're going to go have a little listen."
The door opened again. By now, the Black Family Library was very crowded. "Oh, hello Harry," Ginny said brightly. "I thought I heard your voice." Turning to Fred and George, she said, "The Ears are no use. She's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."
Fred and George looked crestfallen, but another member of the room perked up.
"What's an Impenetrable Charm?" Leo asked.
"An Imperturbable Charm," Ginny corrected him. "It repels all items."
"On the door, you say?" Leo asked. Ginny nodded. "Are there any windows?" He continued.
George snorted. "Not in this house."
Leo sighed. "Pity. I could've whipped something up."
Fred smirked. "I like how you think."
"Oh gods," Annabeth said. "Mental note: never leave Fred and George in the same room with Leo."
"Who else is here?" Harry asked distractedly. "Besides the ones that took me here."
"Well, there's obviously Sirius. Then there's Bill, Snape--"
"Snape?"
"Yeah. Dumbledore trusts him." Hazel made a face.
"Where's the Other Percy?"
Everyone shot dark looks at each other.
"Whatever you do, don't mention him in front of Mum and Dad," Ron said in a tense voice.
"It's awful," Percy agreed. "Every time someone talks to me, they call me Jackson."
"Why?"
"Because if Percy's name is mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred said without a hint of joke in his voice.
"I think we're well shut of him," George said with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.
"What's happened?" Harry asked.
"Percy and Dad had a fight," Fred said. "I've never seen Dad so angry. It's normally Mum who shouts..."
"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."
"You're kidding?" Harry said incredulously.
"Yeah, I know," Jason said. "Even with all his trouble with Crouch and all."
"Why'd they promote him?" Harry asked.
"That's exactly what we wondered. He came home really pleased with himself-- even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that-- and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts-- Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."
"Only he wasn't," Percy said grimly.
"Why not?"
"Apparently Fudge had been storming around the ministry to make sure that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," explained George. "THey all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back. Anyone caught making contact with Dumbledore can clear out their desks."
"Trouble is, Fudge knows Dad's friendly with Dumbledore," Ginny went on. "And he's always thought Dad's a bit weird because of his Muggle obsession..."
"Anyways, Mr. Weasley thinks Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family and Dumbledore," Annabeth said.
Harry let out a low whistle, which reminded Nico strongly of a teapot simmering down. "Bet Percy loved that."
Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way. "He went completely berserk. He said-- well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry, and that Dad's got no ambition, and that's why we've always been, you know, short on money--"
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"I know," Ron said. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble, and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he-- Percy-- knew where his loyalty lay, and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the ministry, he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. He packed his backs the same night and left. He's living here in London, now."
"But Percy must know Voldemort's back," Harry said slowly. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad woldn't risk everything without proof--"
"Yeah, your name got dragged into the row," Ron said. "Percy said the only evidence was yoru word and... I dunno... he didn't think it was good enough."
"Percy takes the Daily Prophet very seriously," Hermione said tartly, and everyone nodded.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking genuinely confused.
"Haven't-- havaen't you beeng etting the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Yeah..."
"Have you-- er-- been reading it thouroughly?" Annabeth carefully.
"Not cover to cover," Harry said defensively. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort, it would be headline news, wouldn't it?"
Hermione hurried on. "You'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they-- um-- they mention you a couple of times a week."
"But I'd have seen--"
"Not if you've only been reading the front page. I'm not talking big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."
"It's really nasty," said Thalia. "They're building on Rita Skeeter's stuff."
"Which is what?"
"Well, you know how she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?" Nico asked.
"Yeah," Harry said shortly. The way Nico put it, it sounded like he was a--
"A deluded, attention-seeking prick who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something," Ginny said very fast.
"They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears, they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter', and if someone has a funny accident or something, it's 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next--'"
At a glance at Harry's face, Hermione fell silent. Then there was a knock on the door.
"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now," Mrs. Weasley said as she poked her head in.
"Finally," Ron said, jumping up eagerly.