LEGIONS IN LEGENDS [PJO X HP]

FOURTEEN: HERMIONE'S INVITATION

"BLOODY HELL, WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THIS?" Ron said bewilderedly, staring at the sheet of Transfiguration homework before him. Out of habit, his head turned to look at Hermione.

"Shut up, Ron. I'm not giving you the answer," she said, though she couldn't deny that a hint of a smile washed over her face.

"I didn't even ask you yet, 'Mione." Ron sighed and pulled his homework closer to his eyes, perhaps hoping that the answer would come clear to him if he did so.

After a frustrating silence of confusion, the youngest Weasley boy buried his head in his arms and mumbled, "The homework is too hard. I hate being a seventh-year."

Fine, Hermione thought to herself. She supposed she could relent one more time, but before she could guide him to the solution to his problems, a certain Daughter of Demeter walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hi," Katie said as she walked past the two of them. Ron flicked his eyes to the demigod, then to his homework, then to the demigod again.

"Gardner, right? You happen to know how to do our Transfiguration homework—?"

Hermione whacked his shoulder before he could continue begging for answers. She turned to the girl standing by the common room's entrance. "I heard about what you guys did."

"Did they do something bad?" Ron asked, sitting up straighter now.

"I don't think you'd see it as bad." Katie shrugged. "Thanks for telling us, I guess. We don't want to be surrounded by people of his sort, either. I understand why you disliked us at first glance."

"There's also the fact that you have a sword..." Hermione trailed off, hoping to get more information. When Katie didn't say anything in response, she added, "We were just wary, you know. No one here really carries a sword around casually."

"Yeah, most times it's used as this big plot twist in the middle of an intense battle, usually involving a Gryffindor and one of Voldemort's Horcruxes," Ron said. He nibbled on a Sugar Quill. "So... I still don't know what you lot did. I'm guessing it has something to do with Malfoy?"

"Uh, yeah. This morning, Percy made it clear to the rest of his class that he wasn't gonna be friends with people like Malfoy or Zabini. After that, the rest of us just didn't talk to Malfoy— I mean, I would still be open to, but it doesn't seem like he wants to approach us, either."

"You'd still be willing to talk to him?"

"Yeah." Katie nodded. "What he did was terrible, but I'm afraid of the consequences if we just completely shut him out. I've made mistakes like that, in the past. Percy, Annabeth, Nico; we all hold some kinda guilt from those mistakes."

Hermione considered this, and decided that Katie was probably right. What intrigued her, however, was the past that she was talking about- the heavy innuendo that something tragic had occured to them before they arrived to Hogwarts.

And it was all in Hermione Granger's nature to be curious and interrogative, but she knew it would be an invasion of privacy to ask something as insensitive as "Hey, what kind of childhood trauma did you face as a kid?", so she kept her mouth shut. Maybe in the future she would get her answer, but definitely not this evening.