AN: I will not do this often, but you deserve to know what you are getting into. This a quick summery of events before the story begins.
Everything after the giant war was great. Piper and Jason were happy at camp, Frank and Hazel were busy whipping the Roman legion into shape with Reyna, Leo returned with Calypso six weeks after the war ended. Everyone was angry at him for tricking them, but the anger lasted long enough to hit him, then everyone went into hugging. Percy and Calypso had a rather awkward reunion, one which Annabeth carefully monitored. Nico and Will were constantly spending time together, yet doggedly insisting that they didn't like each other that way. No one was happier than Percy and Annabeth however. They spent as much time together as they could. Their only concern was the consistent nightmares of Tartarus. During the day they could pretend to forget, and focus on fixing up Camp Half-Blood, as it had suffered a great deal of damage when Gaea awoke, and training campers. At night however their dreams haunted them. They would wake up screaming and sick to their stomachs. The only thing that comforted them was each other. So, they began sleeping together. Not, like that, they had decided to wait until they moved to New Rome together, and had their own apartment, where they wouldn't be interrupted, but every night they slept in each others arms.
The reunion with Sally and Paul was painful for Percy, as his mother was not pleased that he had been gone so long. After she got done scolding him however, she gathered him into her arms and they cried together. When he found out that he was going to be a big brother, he was over joyed. Paul had managed to get him back into Goode High School, and so, if he could only keep his grades up then everything would be perfect. He had a full ride to the University of New Rome and he and Annabeth had started planning for a life together.
A month and a half after Leo returned, Percy was in the full swing of school, working his hardest to get the grades he needed to keep his scholarship when everything fell apart.
It was a chilly afternoon. Annabeth was walking from Sally's apartment to get herself a cup of coffee at a nearby Starbucks when a young man, 16 years old did something that would change countless lives forever. His girlfriend has just broken up with him and feeling sorry for himself he got himself drunk on his dads beer. When he was well and truly hammered he decided it would be a good idea to go over to his best friends place and crash. He hopped in the car and headed out. Despite it being afternoon, with good visibility, he didn't notice the blond girl crossing the street. She tried to dodge, but not even demigod reflexes could save her from a car going fifty miles per hour. She was dead on impact.
Everyone was devastated. Annabeth's dad and stepmom quickly flew out, and both simply broke down at the sight of her body. Her stepmom couldn't stop blaming herself, saying that if they had been closer it wouldn't have happened. Everyone at camp was devastated as well. Chiron openly wept for days. They burned her shroud in a beautiful ceremony that was attended by all the gods. Athena was livid at the drunk driver for taking away her favorite child, the daughter who had restored her honor with the Athena Parthenos. Sally and Paul were devastated as well, for they had begun to see her as a daughter, and hoped to formalize the situation one day.
The only one who didn't react with tears and rants was Percy. He went quiet. For days after it happened he didn't speak a word. Only after her memorial at camp did he start to speak again, but when he did he wasn't the carefree boy they all remembered. He was quiet and distant. He pulled out of high school and started working full time for the camp. Not in the camp mind, he couldn't bear to be in the place where they had met, no he started running errands for the camp. He collected demigod children, he checked up on satyrs, and he acted as messenger between the camps.
His friends and family were desperately worried about him, his new coldness and his general lack of emotions. They did everything they could to cheer him up. The Stolls played pranks, Clarisse tried to beat him up, Jason and Leo tried to take him out for dinner, Piper tried to talk to him, Reyna, Hazel and Frank all tried to talk to him. Nico told him that she was in Elysium and was waiting for him. His mom tried to get him to express emotions telling him he had to cry, even his dad tried, but nothing worked.
Meanwhile on the other side of the world and ten year old boy lay in a cupboard under the stairs crying silently. He cried because his cousin Dudley had beaten him up again, he cried because his Aunt Petunia had screamed herself hoarse at him for being found on the school roofs, and his uncle had tanned his backside for the same reason. Above all he cried because he was truly, desperately lonely. In all his memory he had never had a friend, let alone a family who cared about him. Someone who cared about his hopes and goals, who praised him for success, rather than yelling at him for "trying to make your cousin look stupid, eh boy", who held him when he dreamed of flashing green lights and a woman screaming.
So, if you somehow missed it up to this point this is clearly a crossover story. Just as clearly I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. The plot will largely follow the HP books, but what doesn't is mine. I will introduce very few characters, so all the credit goes to Uncle Rick and J. K. Rowling. Most likely this will be my only disclaimer, but it goes for the entire book.
Also the cover art is not mine.