Percabeth Teach at Hogwarts

Chapter Ten

Percy

Percy watched Hermione and Draco carefully, rolling his eyes at their constant bickering. It was maddening. Honestly, the two held onto old grudges like no one else he knew and he thought he was about to lose his mind if they threw one more insult at each other, when finally Annabeth wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

She pressed her cheek between his shoulder blades and hugged him tight. "Hi," she breathed into his back.

Percy smiles slowly and spun around to see her beautiful face. "Hey," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Took your time didn't you?"

Annabeth tried to hide her grin behind her golden curls. "Sorry, it took me a while to get ahold of Chiron."

"Mhm," he replied, not believing her in the slightest. "Oh, I'm sure. What did he have to say?"

She pulled back from his embrace to glance in Hermione's direction. "He didn't know about her either but assumes no monsters have come after her because of the wards around Hogwarts. As for when she's home ... he doesn't know. Maybe she subconsciously masked her scent with the mist. Maybe the magic imbued in her wand scared them off. Your guess is as good as mine."

She had a wistful look on her face that Percy knew meant she had been wrong about something and didn't like it.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Annabeth shook her head a bit. "I just ... I thought maybe ... "

Realization dawned on Percy. "You thought she was a child of Athena."

"I had my suspicions about her being a demigod. She just has our energy and restlessness. And when I gave her that sword that was for a child of Athena ... I thought maybe that would confirm what I thought. And it almost did, but the way she naturally wielded it was different than a child of Athena would. It was more brash and the grip was different. But still, I thought she must be an Athena kid. Don't you see her? Athena just bleeds from her. I don't get it."

Percy pursed his lips. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But you did tell me once that not every smart person is a child of Athena. I guess she's just one of those smart people."

Annabeth nodded but didn't seem convinced. Her eyes were glimmering with the promise of an unsolved puzzle. The girl was in love with puzzles, let Percy tell you.

Yet another realization fell upon Percy, and he pulled Annabeth into his arms. "Hey," he said, pressing his nose to hers. "You know, she doesn't have to be your sister to be your friend."

Annabeth sighed. "That's not – "

Percy laughed and placed a finger on her lips. "Annabeth I know you better than anyone else in this world. I know you're still hurting and wanted her to be your sister because she would understood you on a different level. But she still can. Who knows— maybe your mom even blessed her. The Gods do that sometimes don't they?"

"That's a possibility," she admitted. "Look at you Seaweed Brain, being all wise."

"All in a day's work Wise Girl." Percy leaned down to kiss her lightly when a cough stopped him short.

Draco was watching them from his perch on a rock. "For the love of Zeus, would you two please stop with that? We can hear and see you, and it's disgusting!"

Hermione was sitting on the ground about ten feet from Draco, her arms crossed, her lip curled as she glanced up at him. "Do you have to be insufferable to everyone? Merlin, just shut your mouth for ten seconds and let them be happy you prick."