Third-Person PoV:
Cedella stared up at the sky as she lay sprawled on the grass near the Great Lake, the clouds passed on by overhead as the last few rays of warm sunlight of the September sun broke through the gloominess, signalling that it was likely to rain soon. She took in a deep breath as the scent of grass and the earth filled her nostrils, she exhaled and closed her eyes just focusing on the smells around her.
"-ella."
She absentmindedly played with Draco's hair, he laid his head on her stomach when the three of them came down for some alone time after dinner, her fingers toyed with his hair: plaiting it, twisting it, undoing it, and curling the platinum locks around her fingers. His hair was soft and silky and his scalp warm as she continued to run her fingers through it, the process almost comforting.
"-della!"
A smile rose on her lips, letting her body relax, fully sinking in and becoming one with the ground beneath her. The strands of grass tickled her cheeks and stroked the bare soles of her feet, she scrunched her toes up and hoisted them up closer to her body. The wind tousled her hair slightly and ran a chill down her body. It invaded her ears and whistled her eardrums, she winced it was too loud, droplets of water began to drizzle from the dome of grey above, it made her feel cold she didn't like it, the air dampened and a musk spread throughout the air, she didn't like the smell this time, it stank, Draco felt too heavy on her stomach, his skin too warm and seeping-
"Cedella!"
The witch sat up suddenly and gasped out, panting as she drew in deep breaths, her eyes were frantic, pupils constricted to small dots, they darted around till they landed on Blaise's concerned gaze. She held her stare with him and gave a bright smile. "You said my name?"
"Sensory overload?" Draco asked, sitting up from where Cedella had knocked him off her lap, brushing out the dirt that had settled into his hair and detangling his locks. She sent him an apologetic look, the blond shrugged and pressed a kiss to her hand.
"I did, asking if you knew what the last ingredient for the Draught of Peace was, would've asked Drake but he was asleep." He placed his quill back in its case and rolled his parchment up, he placed them both back into his bag and shifted closer to her. "You okay though?" She shrugged and laid back down again, folding her hands and placing them on her stomach. Her legs stretched out, artic eyes looking at the clouds again.
"It's 7 drops of Hellebore. Would you like to head back inside? I'm pretty sure the House-Elves wouldn't mind making us some latte." Draco leaned on his hand and looked down at her. Her lips twitched into a smirk.
"That does sound nice, reminds me of our first date. Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop." Cedella sat up and pulled on her socks and slid on her shoes, standing up and brushing off the grass and dirt that resided on her skirt and cloak.
"We paid the employees to let no one but us, didn't we?" Blaise picked up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder, and stretched his back.
"You can't deny it was rather pleasant. It was quiet and it was just us." Draco started towards the castle, his partners trailing after him, Blaise slung an arm around both of their shoulders and grinned down at the two of them.
"Boy am I glad to have the two of you. This would've seemed like a dream last year." He chuckled.
"Mmmm, it's a shame that father will find out soon, no doubt that the other Slytherin's have fed it back to him through the grapevine." Draco's lips thinned into a line, his eyes distant and gazing off into the distance, an inner fear shone deep within the icy grey windows. Cedella and Blaise exchanged looks and focused on Draco.
" He's still at your house... isn't he?" For a second his boyfriend's voice trembled, the shorter wizard sagged onto him, a summer's worth of apprehension and terror leaking into his usually smug and confident facade. The weather shifted and the drizzle began to get heavier, the shower splattering on the ground.
"Yes. For most of the summer, father and He believed that I was competing with you for Cedella's hand. They want to have the Wyvern's on their side of the war, your family's connection with dragons would really turn the tides for them. N-no doubt that within the next week father will be sending a letter and I'll be called back for the Winter break. He's rising in power, really quickly, that's what all the older years have told me this summer, and if the Order doesn't pull their shit together..." He didn't need to finish the sentence, the consequences at the end of that term were clear. Their happy little world was turning into a nightmare right before their eyes. Blaise tightened his grip on both of them.
"Tell your mother to go to mine as soon as possible. I have a Fidelius Charm on my house, they're less likely to find you there. My mum would be glad to have some company that she doesn't plan on getting rid of soon."
"But they'd still go looking for your house, it will just place you and your mother in danger." Draco protested, Blaise, grabbed his shoulders and met his silvery eyes with his chestnut ones, tears brimming at the edges.
"But if you stay there you'll get hurt Dragon, I-we can't lose you." His voice softened and broke at the end, desperation clear in his tone, his hand came up to gently cup the side of his face, a thumb stroking his cheek. Draco placed a hand over the dark-skinned boy's.
"You're not going to lose me, honey. I promise."
"Do you swear it?" Cedella studied him, her face dismayed.
"Yes."
"Then swear that you and your mother will stay at my house from now on."
"Stella-"
"SWEAR IT DRACONIS!" Her shout was hysterical as tears flowed down the apples of her cheeks, she shook his arm in desperation, her knees gave out as she fell to the ground with her hands clutching onto the fabric of his pants, her face buried in his leg as she began to openly blubber. "We can't lose you! P-please don't leave us!" She wailed out, seeming to lose all energy in her speech. Draco smiled wistfully down at her and crouched down with his boyfriend to cradle her in their arms, the waterworks turned on and he quietly snivelled with them.
"I swear it Cedella, I swear it to both of you, I'll do an Unbreakable Vow if I have to. I don't know how I'll get mother to yours but I'll figure it out." The Malfoy heir breathed out, Blaise hummed in acknowledgement and took a whiff of his scent, he smelt like parchment and ice, an odd combo but it complemented each other perfectly. Cedella nodded her head sniffing into his shoulder letting out a few hiccups as she calmed down. They continued to hold each other in the storm that was beginning to brew at Hogwarts, not caring that their clothes stuck to them like a bandaid.
"Hey! Are you three all right?" They turned to see two figures standing at the entrance of the castle entrance, the trio exchanged looks and headed towards the two silhouettes that stood there.
"We were looking everywhere for the three of you, is there a reason that you were huddled outside in the middle of a storm?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow and held a hand up just as thunder boomed in the sky overhead. They shuffled their feet guiltily.
"We were talking before it rained." Draco lamely said. Percy snorted, his fiancé shot him a glare and turned back to them.
"Take off your cloaks and wear ours, you'll all catch a cold." Without a warning, she threw her's as them covering their heads, they spluttered as they struggled to untangle themselves from it. Percy let out a boisterous laugh and Annabeth chuckled beside him as they took in the polyamorous partners, he held out his for them as they took off their wet ones handing them to them.
"Looks like you needed that talk, good to get it off your chests. Now let's go and warm up at our dorm so we can all talk." They nodded and followed Percy and Annabeth back into the warmth of the castle, Draco took his partner's hands and squeezed them, new hope sparked within his eyes.
Back at the Demigod's Dorm Room...
Lou Ellen stretched out on the couch, her finished homework laid on her stomach. Percy and Annabeth weren't back yet, they had been searching for Cedella and her boyfriends since dinner ended and none of them could find them. The rain patted against the windows and the fire roared to life in the fireplace.
"I swear to the gods if Prissy and Princess aren't here in the next minute I'm gonna tear down this castle," Clarisse growled from the arm of the couch she rested on, polishing her spear, a menacing glint shone in her eyes.
"Sheesh learn some patience will ya Clarisse?" Percy waltzed in, a sarcastic grin was worn upon his face, Annabeth came in behind him with the other three drenched behind him.
"Finally!" Leo stretched from his chair, ditching the latest invention in his hands back into his tool belt.
"Did you three go for a swim?" Will cocked an eyebrow at them as he shooed them over to the fire to warm up.
"We were outside." Blaise chattered.
"Well you're all here now and that's all that matters right now." Thalia crossed her arms, she looked much better than she did earlier when she had a flashback in Charms, Jason hovered over her anxiety on his face as he forced her to sit back down, she playfully swatted at him assuring that she was fine.
"Is there something wrong?" Cedella tilted her head, her wet locks covered half her face, she brought a hand up to brush them away.
"We heard some... questionable rumours at dinner about what has happened in previous years of this school." Pollux started. The demigods settled down and huddled closer to the trio, curious to confirm their concerns about the school. "We wanted to know the facts from the truth."
Blaise sighed and stretched out. "To be honest this school is a hot mess and should have been closed since our second year."
"Really? What kind of stuff has happened?" Travis scooted closer.
Blaise and Draco looked at each other, defeat written on their faces.
"In the first year, a troll was set loose in the school. One of the teachers was possessed by the Dark Lord and Potter killed him. Oh, and there was a dangerous three-headed dog on the third floor I heard from some of thee House-Elves." Nico choked as the dog was mentioned, Hazel sent him a questioning look that he shrugged off.
"In the second year, a place called the Chamber of Secret, the hidden chamber of Salazar Slytherin where a Basilisk was set loose and petrified a number of students, mainly the muggle-borns. Oh and my father gave the youngest Weasley a diary that belonged to the Dark Lord too, so she opened it and was possessed, killed a lot of animals too. And the DADA teacher had his memory wiped."
"In the third year, Sirius Black escaped Azkaban and was able to get into Hogwarts the supposed 'safest' and 'securest' place in Magical Britain. Don't know what happened but Black was never caught."
"Last year, the DADA teacher was a Death Eater using Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Alastor Moody and nearly killed Potter, and Cedric Diggory died in the last part of the Tournament and the D-Dark Lord revived himself, he's...." He trailed off and paused grimly looking at the ground.
"What is it Draco?" Katie asked her voice firm and demanding. He looked up at her nervously and down again, he drew in a breath through his nose and scuffed his shoes on the carpet, the fire crackled behind him. He exhaled.
He couldn't say it. He would betray their trust. He would betray their trust.
He was going to fuck up everything as he usually does.
"He's at my house." He whispered. Silence filled the room, the only sound was a sharp draw in of Draco's breath. He didn't dare look up, he tightened his grip on their hands.
"Is that why you were at the Wyvern's a lot?" Reyna asked, her tone thick with empathy. He wordlessly nodded. "I'm sorry you have to go through that."
"It's fine, mother and I won't be there for long. Uncle Sev is a double agent for the Order, he'll know more than me. But he's rising quickly and gaining a lot of allies." He admitted.
"At least you're out of there." Percy nodded at him, a look of understanding passed between them. "But no wonder the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts, a Wizarding school or not it should've been closed."
"And from the way the Order was when we met them, there'll be a pretty one-sided war, to be honest, one that can't be afforded." Clarisse hissed.
Silence settled into the room once more, the gears turning in all of their heads. "Did you say that she was possessed by a diary?" Nico spoke up, Draco nodded which only drove the son of Hades even further into his thoughts.
"What is it, Nico? You onto something." Jason fixed his golden glasses back onto his nose.
"Maybe, it just helps narrow down the search for how he survived. That cuts down research time to at least a month hopefully." He rested his fingers underneath his chin and held his elbow in his other hand.
"Thank the gods! Being in that library drives me insane." Lou Ellen pulled at her eyes, "Why did we have to be cursed by dyslexia?" She sighed dramatically and leaned against Butch who rolled his eyes at her, gently shoving her off him.
"Cause our parents are big-headed?" Thunder rolled in the skies, Connor flipped his fingers at the ceiling, and they all laughed at him.
"It's getting late, should we all have some hot drinks?" Hazel stood up and headed to the opposite side of the room, a medium kitchenette was built there. Hazel filled up three kettles with water from the sink and set them on the stove to boil. She turned back to them her head tilted in question. "What would you guys like to have?"
"Matcha latte!" Cedella stood up shouting with her a hand up in the air.
"Hot chocolate!" Clovis, Percy, Leo, and the Stolls.
"Ah!" Lou Ellen smiled, sparkles were somehow glittering across her face, she smiled with her eyes closed and held her chin. "I see you're men of culture." The room was silent for a few seconds before 'Team hot chocolate', Rachel, Thalia, Piper, and Frank cracked up. Annabeth sighed walking away from them.
"Could I just have tea?" Draco asked.
"What are you, British?" Draco looked at Leo in disappointment. "Ignore what I just said..."
The Next morning, The Great Hall...
Neville settled down at the Gryffindor table, he placed his bag underneath his seat, hoping that he wouldn't trip over it when he would leave for Divination, he also had to hope that he would remember his bag. He placed an omelette on his plate and poured himself a glass of orange juice, just as he was about to tuck in someone sat next to him.
"Good morning Neville. Did you sleep well?" Hazel placed her plate down, a portion of her food was missing already, he could only assume that she had sacrificed it already. Frank sat next to her and Nico and Will sat opposite them at the table.
"I-I slept well, I was able to get my homework done thankfully." He stumbled over his words a bit.
"That's good I still have to do the homework for Potions and DADA, I hate those classes." Thalia sat next to Neville along with Reyna.
"Good morning Thalia, you feel better today?" Thalia paused at his question for a second and turned to face the shy Gryffindor with a small smile.
"Yeah, I do actually feel better thanks." Neville nodded his head and went back to eating his breakfast. He didn't quite know what to make of the Royals at first, he was a bit sceptical when Hazel came up and started talking to him, he thought that he would most definitely be the last person they would even want to talk to. But they had been so nice to him, and yes, some of his housemates have given him some encouragement but that was mostly in his first two years, now they seemed to have stopped. Even Hermione, the girl who would try to help him with Professor Snape had too. At times he wished he had been placed in Hufflepuff, he didn't see how he even fit in Gryffindor, he wasn't brave, he had just hidden there while he listened to his parents being tortured into insanity. And that had cost him his confidence, he was socially awkward only making friends with Luna Lovegood, another outcast.
"Hey, Neville?" He looked up to meet the happy blue eyes of Will.
"Uhh yes?"
"I was wondering if later you could give me some pointers in Herbology, maybe at lunch. We deal with quite different plants at home, and want to take note if any of them have significant healing properties." Neville lit up and nodded digging into his breakfast with more passion. Reyna raised an eyebrow at Will in question, the blonde raised a finger to his lips and winked at her, promising to explain later. They all continued to eat in comfortable silence, it was broken again by the arrival of three others.
"Why you gotta wake up us this early 'Mione? It's still so early." Ron groaned, pouring himself a glass of orange juice and emptying the glass, the bushy-haired girl rolled her eyes and focused on the demigods.
"Good morning, sorry about Ron and Harry, they aren't early birds." Thalia suppressed a snort.
"Neither is Percy, but somehow Annabeth gets him to be so lively in the morning." Nico jabbed a thumb at the Ravenclaw table where the ravenette was talking animatedly with Luna, Annabeth watching him fondly.
"I wish I could get these two up as easily." She sighed as she poured some coffee and served herself some porridge.
"Here come the owls." Harry looked up as the owls swooped into the hall from overhead, landing next to their owners on the table and holding out their legs, impatiently waiting to deliver their parcels and letters. Harry took off the letter from Hedwig's leg, scratching her head, letting her affectionately nip his finger he feeds her some of his sausages, she quickly ate up the sausage and bent down to gobble up some more from his plate he chuckled and looked at the letter. 'To Harry', it was written in the familiar scrawl that was Sirius' handwriting, he stuffed the letter in his pocket, and gave Hedwig another scratch before she took off.
"Did any of you send letters to your parents?" Hermione asked, folding away the newspaper she had received, Harry glared at the bold title of The Daily Prophet.
Will let out a nervous laugh, "They have more important things to do than being disturbed by us really." The young witch was about to respond when a trumpet-like caw sounded from the top of the Hall, Will's mouth dropped open as a white swan fluttered in, the hall quietened as it landed with grace in front of the son of Apollo. It held out its flipper, a red-letter attached to it.
"A howler?!"
"What did you think he did?" Whispers were scattered around the Hall.
"I think it's for you Will, open it up." Nico had a shit-eating grin on his face, Will shot a glare at his boyfriend and reluctantly detached the red letter from the swan and opened it.
"WILL! HOW CAN YOU BE SO RUDE ABOUT DEAR OLD DAD!? I'M LIKE THE COOLEST AND HOTTEST DAD EVER! PUN INTENDED!" Apollo's voice boomed through the letter, Will rolled his eyes and grumbled something under his breath. "YOU BETTER NOT BE INSULTING ME AGAIN WILLIAM ANDREW SOLACE!"
"I've never even told you my full name! How do you know this?!" Will threw his hands up in the air, completely defeated.
"I KNOW A LOT OF THINGS WILL, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT ONE OF MY AREAS IS KNOWLEDGE, IN FACT, I FEEL A HAIKU COMING ON!" Rachel slammed her head onto the table and the rest of the demigods groaned.
"MY SON IS SO MEAN
HE JUST KEEPS INSULTING ME
I'M VERY CLEVER!" The howler burst into flames.
"At least he got the syllables right this time!" Piper yelled from the Hufflepuff table. A screech echoed across the hall as a black owl flew down in front of Nico, he plucked off two letters, handing the other one to Hazel, the owl let out smaller calls, almost like it was purring. Nico opened his and skimmed it.
"Dad says that when we have children they better not inherit anything from your dad or he'll disown himself from the family." Nico casually spoke up, Will let out a cough as he choked on his coffee. A raven flew in and landed on Will's shoulder he tore off the letter and began to read it.
"My dad says that he's offended, anything inherited by him should be considered a beautiful gift. He also says that he has the children thing sorted and we don't need to worry about that till we're older." Will blushed and coughed, he stared at the swan that was sitting on the table. "Why are you still here? Shoo!"
The swan glared at him with beady eyes and squawked at him. "How am I being rude? If you sit at this table any longer you might just be on the menu for tonight's dinner." The swan faced away from Will and let out a shrill.
"You're a bird! We aren't cannibals, no one's going to eat me." The swan seemed to send the blonde a rather smug look, it looked at Nico and then back at Will, he slammed his hands on the table and held a staring contest with the bird. "Don't you dare say it."
Somehow the swan smiled and squawked again, Will sent the white bird a murderous gaze. "Did you know the swan has 24 neck vertebrae?" He held the knife that he was using to eat his breakfast firmly in his hand, the swan suddenly alarmed squawked and stumbled about on the table as it flew off and dashed away from the son of Apollo.
"Did you just talk with a swan?" Dean looked bewilderedly at him, Will shrugged.
"We can all at least talk to one animal. I can also talk to ravens and snakes."
"You're a Parseltongue?" Ron choked on his breakfast, his eyes bulging out. Will sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Nico gave a death glare to anyone who looked at Will with distrust or hate.
"So what if Royal Duke Sol and his children are all Parseltongue's? Having an ability that appears dark doesn't mean that they're evil it's what that person does with it that determines if they are." Will reached under the table for Nico's hand and gave it a squeeze, expressing his thanks, Nico whipped his head around to face his lover and gave him a small smile with a light blush dusted across his cheeks.
An eagle screeched in the distance, the Great Hall quietened once again.
"Will."
"Yes, Thalia?"
"This is all your fault. I'm going to fill your body up with arrows after this."
"Of course Thalia. Glad to see you're doing better." And an eagle swept into the Great Hall, the students diving under tables and shrieking as it swooped down low, Thalia held out a hand (she had somehow materialised a raptor glove) and the eagle grabbed her arm and settled onto it, it held out its leg for her which she took the letter from, the bird shifted and settled down onto her shoulders.
"Father said that we better represent the family well or he'll have Duke Bacchus give us punishment when we get back home." Shivers ran down their spine. "Oh and we can keep these birds they're sending."
"Birds?" The Stolls asked, a flutter of feathers was heard as a series of different birds flew down to the demigods.
Two vultures flew down for Frank and Clarisse, a wicked grin was on the latter's face, one could only guess that the parcels that came with them were a new weapon, if not by the way she sent Percy lethal looks and death threats written in her eyes.
Jason was surprised by the flurry of colourful feathers as a peacock settled onto his head, a falcon landed in front of him too. The peacock seemed to be making a fine bed on his head as it spread its long tail feathers in a fan, Leo descended into laughter, commenting on how it made him look like one of those women from the carnivals.
Leo quickly shut up as a grey crowned crane settled onto his shoulders, his mouth dropped as he took in the tall bird that deposited a parcel from its beak in front of him. It retracted its neck and plucked at its feathers.
A pure white dove flew down and nuzzled Piper's cheek, it tucked in its wings and cosied into her neck, the brunette let out a grin, thanking all the gods that she knew off the top of her head that her mother didn't go over the top as she imagined she would've.
Two roosters pecked at the Stoll's head, the one pecking Travis was feathered with red and dark brown while a black feathered rooster pecked Connor's nose, they both looked at each other and laughed.
A turtle dove sat in front of Katie, it cocked its head to one side, cooing at her and hopped closer. She picked up some bread and ripped off a chunk and started feeding it.
A brown barn owl swooped down and landed on Annabeth's shoulder, it screeched at Percy and nipped at him causing him to edge away. Annabeth laughed and spoke to the owl telling it to leave him alone, which it did reluctantly.
Pollux grinned down at his Great Potoo, it's yellow eyes bulged out as it let out a wail like that of a drowning man, its beak wide open and parted like a grin.
Nestled into Clovis's pillow was a blue, yellow, and green parrot, it had fallen asleep and with tired eyes, Clovis smiled down at the creature, he let out a yawn and adjusted the parrot on the pillow so he could sleep too.
The chatter of a magpie could be heard as it hopped round in front of Butch, plucking up and dropping pieces of cutlery, inspecting it to see if it was real silver. Magpies do like shiny things...
Lou Ellen stroked the beak of a snowy owl with amber eyes, it allowed her to do this before it started to preen its feathers, it thrust out its wings and closed its eyes seeming to fall asleep.
A mergini, a type of sea duck flapped over to Percy it quacked at him and started feasting on the food he still had on his plate, the son of Poseidon gave a playful glare at the duck but just rolled his eyes and took some more bread for it to feed on.
The raven that was with Will flew over to Rachel, croaking at her, and hopped about as it tilted its head in a sort of questioning way.
"What?" Seamus gauped at them, he blinked again and rubbed his eyes. "Are these birds even allowed?" He edged away from Frank as his vulture began taking some of the bacon off the platter. Reyna shrugged, a peregrine falcon screeched as it flew with astonishing speed to her outstretched gloved arm.
"They're just trying to outdo each other and see who's the better parent or who has more power, as long as we keep our mouth's shut they shouldn't do anything as drastic as this." Reyna sent Will a pointed look, he sheepishly shrugged his shoulders a light blush was dotted across his cheeks.
"Besides I don't think any of the teachers can say now if King Zane says we can keep them then we must," Frank says he inclined his head towards the staff table, Dumbledore looked quite amused with the event that just occurred whereas Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape looked exasperated. Umbridge looked like she was trying and failing to keep a pleasant smile on her face. The demigods go back to eating breakfast, not all bothered by the looks they were receiving from the rest of the students.
"Blimey! Imagine your parents sending you stuff just to piss off each other?" Ron muttered through a mouthful of food.
"Yeah, but Purebloods don't do that, they're more subtle. And how did Will's dad even know that Will was insulting him, the letters shouldn't have been able to be sent that quickly too." Hermione trailed off, her eyes glancing at the Americans with suspicion laced in her gaze.
Nice finally another update!! So with the birds, as some of you could tell they're the sacred animals of their parents some of them I had to improv and assign a bird to them that I think would suit as not all the gods/goddesses had one. My discord will be put up soon (link will appear soon from the version on AO3 account only)
Here are the birds that they have and what they're called:
Will - a swan - Skatá (shit)
Nico - screech owl - Efiáltis (nightmare)
Hazel - screech owl - Aurum (gold)
Frank - vulture - Charognard (savenger)
Clarisse - vulture - Cháker (hacker)
Travis - rooster - Dipló (double)
Connor - rooster - Talaiporía (trouble)
Katie - turtle dove - Harvest
Piper - dove - Mésa (inside, like inner beauty, inner strength)
Leo - crane - Supremo (supreme)
Jason - peacock - Íra (Juno in Greek) and a falcon - Petó (fly)
Thalia - eagle - Dýnami (strength)
Annabeth - barn owl - Eftychía (happiness)
Percy - mergini (sea duck) - Koulouráki (cookie)
Pollux - Great potoo - Paránoia (insanity)
Clovis - parrot - Nysta (sleepy shortened)
Butch - magpie - Ládi (oil cause of its tail)
Rachel - raven - Picasso
Reyna - peregrine falcon - Depreda (predator in Spanish shortened)
Lou Ellen - snowy owl - Choíros (pig)