Tables...

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

Revelations on the prophecy. A table is involved.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: Teen and Up
Content Warning: Sexual Themes (non-graphic*)
Word Count: 3021

*On the Content Warning it's NOT smut... I'm keeping my promise of nothing above "Teen and Up". But, two (or more... no, two) characters engage in sexual acts, though I describe nothing beyond kissing with clothes 100% on. But, it's not even implied... it's pretty obvious. I can't stress this enough--it's not described whatsoever, but, if you're still uncomfortable reading this, message me and I can give you the rundown of this chapter's plot so you're not confused later on.

Also, GIULIA'S BACK! She's happy to be back, and got plenty of beta commentary for us.

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.


____________________ANNABETH____________________

On Christmas Day, Annabeth Chase finally understood.

Ever since the appearance of Nico's letter, Percy had been rather distant to Annabeth. He guarded the thing with his life, not letting anyone--even her--read a line. Beyond clarifying that Nico was both safe and helping, and that they were doing the right thing by finishing the horcrux hunt, Percy refused to speak of its content. Instead, he hid in various places around Hogwarts, sat in some corner, and read the words over and over.

The thing was, he didn't do much else. They contacted Will and Lou to tell them that Nico wrote and was okay, and to change their mission from finding him to hunting down Nagini. Even though the relief on Will's face was more than obvious, Percy never cracked a joke. He never spoke at all.

As for the horcrux hunt, without the final item, they were stuck. They had no idea of Hecate's or Hades' plans for January first, nor if the Olympic Council knew or cared. Annabeth prayed to her mom on more than one occasion, asking her to convince Zeus to do something, and to help her with her preventative measures. She urged Percy to do the same, but the most she ever got out of her boyfriend was an unintelligible grunt.

And, though not on Annabeth's priority list, their relationship? In the early days of the quest, when deadlines were iffy, and they had just one, manageable goal, Percy and she found time together. Nothing too fancy--walks around the lake, broom rides on the Quidditch pitch, finding an empty hallway and... occupying it. Little things. Something. Anything.

Now? Ever since the Solstice, they'd both been so preoccupied with the end of the world that those stupid little moments fell to the wayside. Annabeth knew that had to happen--if they saved the world, they could enjoy a million walks and snowball fights and arguments over whether Athens or Sparta was a better place to live in Ancient Greece. Annabeth missed that, even if she knew it was petty and selfish to. She missed her seaweed brain.

At least before the letter arrived, Percy was still Percy. As much time as he spent moping and mourning Nico, he also spent with her and the others--the jokes, the out-of-nowhere PDA, that stupid laugh and smile when he realized everyone was staring at them. But for the last three days, Percy had been a shell of his former self.

Annabeth wasn't hungry for Christmas dinner. Everyone else had left to eat, leaving her to review all the notes and think up new horcruxes. She thought back to every memory she'd ever seen of Tom Riddle, but couldn't think of any object that he might turn. Gryffindor's Sword? No, according to every horcrux book Blaise gave her--stolen from the Headmaster's office--no horcrux could kill another horcrux, even if the object itself had the power to. He would never tell another Death Eater of his horcruxes, knocking any living person out, and Nagini was the only animal that he had a strong enough connection with to turn. All the Hogwarts objects? Destroyed. The only artifact from the Gaunts he'd consider worthy of housing his life force? Gone too.

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