When Myths Meet Magic || 6

12|| Percy

"Baubles! Orientation! Pinocchio!"

Percy wanted to kick the Fat Lady's frame in frustration. He'd named every password he could remember in all his time at Hogwarts (which, to be honest, was only about seven, and he'd made up four of them). Everyone else had gone into the tower already, sent through the Floo network just minutes ahead, but a pee break at the Burrow had left him behind.

"C'mon, you know me," he said crossly to the portrait.

The Fat Lady squinted through the fog of her hangover. "Harry already inside," she said. "So you are impersonator. Polyjuice potion or a bad disguise, neep!"

Percy scoffed. "I am much better looking than Harry, thank you very much."

"Percy!— Here, I've got the password," said Neville as he breathlessly appeared behind Percy. He huffed for a moment, hands on his knees, apparently thinking hard.

"Neville, don't strain yourself," said Percy in concern.

"No, I've got it... Oh, yeah! Abstinence!"

"Precisely," said the Fat Lady, swinging open.

The two clambered into the common room, which was alight with scarlet, gold, and activity. However, there was a distinct lack of blonde beauty among the heads (and Jason and Thalia and Nico but they could be found later).

"Hey, Neville, d'you know where everyone else is?" Percy asked, but Neville had already vanished.

Mildly frustrated, Percy decided to sleep away the five minutes of separation anxiety.

He awoke the next morning with Annabeth sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Good morning, Seaweed Brain," she said, awakening Seamus from across the room who evidently mixed the nickname with his own name, sat up and hit his head on the bedpost, and reacted violently to the sight of a female within the near-ish vicinity of his Gryffindor pajamas.

"Wise Girl," said Percy. His back made the sound of a crunchy leaf being stepped on. "Where were you last night?"

"Dumbledore's office," replied Annabeth, whacking Percy with a pillow to wake him up faster. "He told us to meet him, remember?"

"No," said Percy.

"Evidently. Well, it was just a quick checkup. Asked us about Christmas, all that. Shared some biscuits he'd gotten from McGonagall for Christmas."

"What?" whined Percy. "No! I missed it?"

"Yep." Annabeth gave Percy a quick peck (on the forehead (thankfully, as he hadn't brushed his teeth yet)). "But don't worry, I saved you some."

"Really?"

"Yep. They're at your first class."

Percy sulked as he dragged himself out of bed. Hogwarts really needed a thorough heating system, he thought. Maybe they could use the old pipes the Basilisk abandoned, since they apparently stretched through every corner of the castle.

The shift back to school did not bode well with most students. To be quite honest, Percy had forgotten all about — well, everything. They left Transfiguration with heaping amounts of homework and heavy disappointment from McGonagall. Luckily, Hagrid allowed them to do their homework during Care of Magical Creatures (Although Percy suspected Hagrid had simply forgotten about lessons as well). The snow was cold but a quick bout of charms cast a waterproof blanket and a small campfire just in front of Hagrid's hut, which served as a pleasant workspace.

And the day wasn't all bad. Annabeth really did give Percy the biscuits she'd saved from Dumbledore's office.

"You know what," said Thalia as she and Percy trudged through the snow. "I don't think peanut butter has real butter in it."