Annabeth
Percy showed me the book, and to be perfectly honest, I almost dropped it in shock. I never imagined that someone would know all of our adventures and publish it to the outside world. I couldn't believe that Dumbledore would put it in a library, let alone somewhere where Hermione would find it. Percy said that Dumbledore gave them a list of book recommendations, but I was surprised that he even knew what Hermione was looking for. Dumbledore continues to impress me, and if he wasn't fully wizard (I asked) then I would definitely consider him a child of Athena. Percy didn't tell anyone else about Hermione finding the book. I wanted to tell Chiron immediately, but Percy seemed unsure. He didn't want to jeopardise the mission, and he said that Chiron probably already had enough on his plate. I agreed but I still sent a letter to Chiron asking if he wanted us to tell the wizards anything.
Everyone was chipper on Sunday morning. Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to be a little distant, and I hoped that they didn't overthink anything. I wanted to keep our secret for as long as possible. Percy told them that we performed the dirty work of the gods, and I still smile at his cheek. It isn't a lie, and Percy has always been slightly bitter about it, even though he doesn't want to let anyone else know. I see it in his eyes whenever we get a new quest. He looks sad, and I know that he's most likely thinking about a life without gods, monsters and powers. He imagines a normal life, and I empathise with him. I want a life where me and Percy don't have to worry about surviving a trip to the cinema. Granted, we can just go to New Rome, but sometimes I would like to go somewhere where normal, mortal couples go. Have a picnic by the lake and not have to look behind you for the spying Aphrodite kids taking photos and giggling. Gods, I hate the Aphrodite kids sometimes. I love Piper, but the new kids especially drive me up the wall. There're always interrupting me and Percy with their high pitched giggles.
We all walked down to the breakfast hall together. Me and Percy hung to the back, watching everyone else talk.
"Hey Annabeth. Do you want to come down to the lake this afternoon? I can sneak into the kitchen and take some food for a picnic. So," Percy flashed his signature smile. "How about it Wise Girl?" I laughed and grabbed his hand.
"We will have to see. I am packed with homework-"
"I don't see why you even bother. We're not here to learn, we're here to protect Harry." Percy grinned.
"I'll have you know, even though DA is exceptionally boring, I actually like learning about the wizard spells and history. I find it fascinating. Plus," I add, "Hermione showed me the Muggle Studies books that she has, and it's quite interesting to read. We don't really interact with the mortals, even though we are almost the same."
"Except the only difference is that we share the same DNA as the biggest jerks," Percy said. I chuckled. Thunder rumbled above us as we entered the hall. The ceiling seemed to have developed clouds.
"He thinks that he can threaten me," Percy whispered in my ear. "We all know that this is far out of his domain." Lightning zapped the floor right in front of him. He yelped and jumped back. I laughed. "Jason!" Percy called.
"What?" Jason asked and turned around. Then he saw that the ceiling was pouring rain onto Percy and he cracked up.
"Shut up Superboy. Fix this." Percy pointed to the clouds above him.I released he wasn't getting wet when I saw Hermione whisper something to Harry. I jogged over to him.
"Percy, you're not wet," I whispered into his ear. He turned to me, horrified.
"Please, no. I don't want to give him the satisfaction."
"People are starting to watch, Percy. Normal people tend to get wet when rained on."
"Fine" he grumbled and suddenly his robes were soaking wet. I grinned. Jason got out his wand, still laughing, and pointed at the sky. The clouds parted and the room was bathed in a natural-looking light.
"Come on," I say, and got out my wand. I waved it over him and dried his robes. "Guess magic studies is useful." He grumbled a thanks and sulked over to where Fred, George and Ron were cracking up.
"Oh please, it's not that funny." Percy said, slightly smiling as he slid next to Jason. I sat next to Percy and grabbed some pancakes.
"You should have seen your face" Fred laughed.
"Priceless" George chuckled.
Percy joined in with the laughter. He can't stay mad for too long, especially when people are laughing. It's one of the things I admire about him, he doesn't hold big grudges. Granted, when a god, giant or other immortal being is involved, it takes him a little longer to get over it. Then the owls flew in and started dropping letters and packages into awaiting student's laps. Kelp flew over and landed in front of my plate. I smiled and untied the letter tied to his outstretched leg. Percy raised his eyebrow, but I ignored him. Unrolling it, I read the letter from Chiron.
Annabeth,
Unfortunately, I do not think that it would be a good time to tell people that you are different. I know that Percy wishes to tell the three wizards, including Harry. But now is not the time. They will not understand, and it will be too complicated to explain just yet. The time will come dear.
Sincerely,
Mr Brunner
P.S
Apparently letters like this can be intercepted so I urge you to be more discrete with your future letters. Leo and Calypso send their regards and hope all is well. Also, tell Nico that he needs to work on his 'apparating'. H is very busy and may not always be alert when he travels, as she needs to perform a spell to get him to our 'time zone'.
"You told him?" Percy asked over my shoulder.
"No, not exactly." I say. I fold the paper and stuff it in my robes. "Nico," I lean over across the table to where he is sitting next to Will and Harry. "Mr Brunner says to work on your apparating. It might not work too well getting you to the right time zone." Nico nods and goes back to his food. I'm glad he understood what I was saying. I might show him the letter later to make sure.
"Hey, guys." Harry said, looking up from the letter his owl and just delivered. "Hagrid has invited me, Ron and Hermione to his hut this afternoon. He says he wants us to visit."
"It has been a while," Hermione adds.
"I have Quidditch practice but I think we can be there at three," Harry said. "Also, he says that you and Annabeth are welcome," he told Percy.
"Sure, why not?" Percy grinned squeezing my hand. "Looks like it'll have to be a picnic lunch," he whispered in my ear. I smiled.
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Percy did well in stealing food from the kitchens. When he came out, however, he looked pretty shaken up. He said that there were little elves living in the kitchen with big eyes that watched him while he took the food. He swears that one of them winked at him. I made a rug with a spell that I had learned in transfiguration, and together we sat by the edge of the lake eating tiny sandwiches and drinking pumpkin juice.
"So, we're going to university together," I say.
"Yeah. It'll be a bit strange though, going back." Percy replied, staring out into the water. "I think I've grown used to this magic world."
"True, but we'll be back in New Rome," I say, looking up into his green eyes. "We'll have a shot at a normal life." He grinned.
"I can't wait" He looked down at me. My heart skipped a little. His eyes were like the waves, when he was happy they were calm. But when he was fighting or thinking, they would churn and crash.
"What's wrong Percy?" I asked staring into the cloudy green eyes. It was as if he was physically next to me, but his mind was off somewhere else.
"My dreams have gotten worse," he said, looking away.
"Tell me."
"I keep seeing you die," he whispered, voice cracking.
"Oh, Percy." I said and rested my head on his shoulder, looking out into the water with him. "I'll never leave you. Never."
"But you will, that's the thing." He said. "One day, hopefully years and years away, I won't be able to protect you-"
"Shut up." I said. I felt him jump slightly in surprise. "Don't think like that, I can protect myself, and if I do die one day, before you, I hope you come down to the underworld every day to keep me company. And if Hades won't let you, well I swear, I will come to you." I look up at him. "Death won't keep us apart, I promise." He smiled. I could hear my heart thump against my chest as he kissed me. It doesn't matter how many times we kiss, it'll always feel like the first time, and sometimes I hate my heart for that. But other times, I just accept that it means that I'll never stop loving this stupid Seaweed Brain.
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I put my feet into the water.
"Percy, it's really cold." I said, shivering. He was out in the lake, submerged up to his chest. Obviously he wasn't getting wet, so he couldn't feel the cold as much as I could. He told me that it would be a good idea, and I still had my wand, so I could dry myself, but my feet were freezing in the shallow water. I was still wearing my robes, because I thought that it would be a little warmer. I was probably wrong.
I looked around. One minute Percy was out in front of me, the next, he wasn't.
"Percy?"
My reply was two arms wrap around me and carry me out deeper into the water. I laughed but then I realised that he was going to drop me.
"Percy don't!" I screamed. Too late. He let me go and I plunged into the cold water. "Percy!" I yelled when I resurfaced. "I will kill you!" He was laughing so much that he misplaced his footing and slipped, falling under the water. That set me off and soon we were laughing and splashing each other. I was at a serious disadvantage because he didn't get wet when I splashed him, then I had an idea. I fumbled around with my hand trying to find my robes pocket. My hand found what it was looking for, my wand. I pulled it out and pointed it at him.
"Infectum!"
"Oh gods!" He yelled. "That's cold!" His robes were now soaked. I laughed.
"That's not fair!" He said. "I don't know any spells."
"You don't have to," I chuckled. "Now it's a fair battle." I splashed him and he produced a wave that crashed on me.
"Oh, two can play at that game," I grinned. I waved my wand and a column of water came out the end and hit his face.
"Annabeth! Percy!"
We turned to see Harry waving at us from the shore.
"Isn't it a bit cold?"
"Oh, it's cold alright!" I yelled back.
Percy and I swam back and I dried our clothes.
"It's just past 3," Harry said.
"Sorry Harry," I said, packing up the picnic. "We don't exactly have a watch with us."
"We lost track of time." Percy said.
"Well, come on then! Ron and Hermione are already there!" Harry said, running towards Hagrid hut. I looked at Percy and grinned. Then I ran after him.
A/N
What the actual heck.
I go away for a day and when I come back my story has almost 8K reads.
When I started writing this story I didn't expect to get this many reads. I was just like "you know, I really love reading these fanfictions, I'm gonna write one myself"
Thank you to all my readers. You're the best.
~pearjam
p.s
I really loved writing this chapter. I just decided that Percy and Annabeth hadn't really been spending that much time together, and the chapter progressed from there. I absolutely love Percabeth. Solangelo and Percabeth are definitely my OTPs of this fandom.