Always Protect

Chapter 11

"So, you know Luke?" Percy asked Annabeth as they left yet another shared class.

"Yeah, we met when I was seven. We're basically family. How do you know him?"

"He helped me get my trunk on the train."

"Of course he did." She said with a fond smile.

"Well, I do believe that we have Mrs. Dodds next for Defense against the dark arts." Percy said after double checking his schedule.

"Yep! That's odd though."

"What is?"

"Luke had said the teacher was a man last year."

Just then, two figures appeared seemingly out of nowhere on either side of the pair. As George Weasley put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder, she grabbed it and judo flipped him.

Fred burst out laughing from beside Percy as his twin lay gasping on the floor in the middle of the corridor.

Quite a few students had stopped as well to stare at the scene in front of them. Percy just looked at Annabeth with wide eyes.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." He said.

"That would be wise." She replied with a smirk and a strange glint in her eyes.

Shaking it off, Percy helped George up.

"How you feeling Georgie?" Fred asked as he tried to refrain from laughing even more.

"I'm alright, wouldn't want to mess with her though." He said with a small laugh himself.

"Anyways," Fred began.

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher changes every year."

"Just ask Charlie,"

"He's been here for six years now,"

"And it's changed every year."

"Even when Bill was here."

"He's in Egypt now,"

"Working for Gringotts."

"Well as fascinating as that is boys, we have to get to class and I'm betting you do too." Annabeth said before walking off towards the Defense classroom.

"You heard the lady, see you around." Percy said with a small salute before running to catch up with the grey eyed girl.

The twins stared after them for a moment as the flow of students waned, the other kids making their way to their classes.

"You don't think-"

"I wonder-"

Looking at each other they spoke simultaneously.

"Nah."

"Weasley! Weasley! What are you doing in the halls?"

Professor McGonagall's voice was like a whip cracking down harshly on the twins .

"Sorry professor!" They yelled in sync and dashed down the hall to get away without punishment.

"Don't run in the halls!" She called after them but they'd already turned the corner.

With a shake of her head, Minerva reentered her classroom. Those boys were sure to be troublemakers.

<><><>

Percy and Annabeth arrived in class two minutes before the bell. Annabeth took a seat at the front of the room, eager to learn, but Percy took one look at the teacher and sat in the back row.

She was an older woman in a leather jacket. She looked like the type of person who'd have knitting supplies with her at all times but as soon as you ask for a sweater she'd stab you in the eye with one of her knitting needles. In other words, a whole new type of scary.

Seriously, she was worse than Snape. Almost as soon as she started the lesson she seemed to single Percy out as a troublemaker. Despite the fact that he didn't do anything. Honestly, if anyone was the troublemaker it'd be one of the other Hufflepuffs, Clarisse LaRue.

The girl was tearing up pieces of parchment and balling them up, throwing them at unsuspecting students.

When Percy turned and hissed at her to stop it, Mrs. Dodds saw him.

"Now honey." She said in a sickly sweet voice.

He ended up with a weeks worth of detention.

At the front of the class, Annabeth stifled a laugh as Mrs. Dodds continued the lesson. Percy let his head fall to the desk with a thump.

<><><>

Luke walked into the Great Hall for lunch to find Annabeth sitting at the Hufflepuff table across from Percy, laughing her head off as the boy glared at her.

"What's going on guys?" He asked, sitting half on the bench beside Percy with one leg on either side.

"I got detention." Percy glowered as he picked at his food.

"For the next week!" Annabeth added gleefully.

Luke stared at the brunette with wide eyes.

"How did you manage that?"

The eleven year old just grumbled so Annabeth took it as her que to tell the story.

"He turned to tell Clarisse to stop throwing paper at people in Defense Against the Dark Arts but the teacher gave him detention. So what does he do? He starts to argue with Mrs. Dodds." she said in between giggles.

Luke put a hand over his mouth in attempt to hide his grin as he looked at the green eyed boy but Percy could see the mirth shining in the Slytherin's eyes. This was made evident as he flushed, groaned, and let his head fall to the table beside his plate.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Luke reassured him. "I have her this afternoon so I don't have any personal experience with her yet but I haven't heard anything good about her from anyone else either."

"Anyone else get detention?" Percy mumbled dejectedly.

Luke supressed a chuckle and wrapped an arm around the younger boy's shoulders reassuringly.

"I don't think so but if it makes you feel any better, I'll probably get detention too. I'm not exactly what one would call a model student, unlike perfect Percy Weasley over in Gryffindor." Luke joked, snorting slightly.

A wide smile grew on his face as his tactic worked and the two first years laughed as well.

"What is this?" A voice said from Annabeth's right, startling the girl who's head whipped towards the sound.

Of course a moment later a voice spoke over to her left and she whipped around once more.

"Having fun-"

"-without us?"

"How could you?"

The Weasley twins sat on either side of Annabeth, much to the blonde's displeasure.

"So-" Fred started.

"-after lunch-"

"-is our first-"

"-flying lesson."

"Thankfully we have it with the Hufflepuffs-"

"-and not the Slytherins."

"No offense Castellan."

Luke chuckled at the twins' antics.

"None taken. Those new recruits are a piece of work alright." The third year agreed.