Class of the Titans Hogwarts AU, moved over from my main account.

Jay stared at his chessboard for several long moments before commanding his castle to move, taking his opponent's bishop in the process. Then, he balled his hand into a fist and pressed his index finger against his lips as he continued to think.

The sound of the heavy wooden door opening caught his attention, but he didn't look up from his chess game to see who his new companion was. It didn't take him long to find out, because the newcomer made a beeline for him.

"Hey Jay!" greeted an enthusiastic female voice, and suddenly ginger hair began to cascade down Jay's shoulder as a girl sat on the arm of Jay's chair and leaned against him. "What's up?"

"Oh, hey Theresa." Jay greeted the girl, not even glancing up at her. "I'm just thinking."

"You do entirely too much of that." Theresa told him as she loosened her blue and bronze tie.

"You can say that again." Neil commented. He was laying across the adjacent couch, admiring himself in his hand-held mirror. He held his mirror back further, to get his tie – also blue and bronze – in his reflection too. "This is such a great colour on me!"

He'd been announcing the same thing daily for the past six years.

"I have to, I'm the leader. Every moment, Cronus is getting stronger, raising his armies-"

"Jay," Theresa cut him off, giving him a stern look. "Cronus may be getting stronger, but you need a break. At this rate you're going to work yourself to death before Cronus even has the chance to kill you."

The seven muggleborns had been informed only at the start of term that there was a dark wizard on the loose – escaped from Azkaban and plotting revenge – against the seven of them, and for something they hadn't even done yet. They were descendants, Professor Kyvern had told them, of seven of the greatest wizards and witches that mankind had ever known. Sure, their parents were muggles, but within their veins lay the blood – and the power – of seven powerful heroes. And Professor Kyvern had reason to believe that Cronus intended to eliminate the threat he believed they posed to him.

It was just a warning, to make sure they stayed on their toes, but Jay took his job far too seriously.

Not that he shouldn't take it seriously with a threat from a dark wizard that even the Ministry's own Auror Department could not manage to subdue that was forever hanging over their heads, but even when they weren't facing off against a psychotic dark wizard, Jay's mind was always on the topic and it seemed that nothing could sway him.

"Hera entrusted me to lead you guys, to keep you all safe," Jay began again.

"And you're doing a wonderful job. We're all alive. And we're still going to be after the game."

"What game?"

Before Theresa could answer, the door swung open again and the final four members of the seven entered the classroom that Professor Kyvern – Hera – had granted the seven of them permission to use in preparation for the battle that lay ahead of them. The newcomers, three with maroon and gold ties, and a fourth in a blue and bronze, headed straight for the broom closet to get their brooms.

"Oh come on, he's still not ready?" Archie asked impatiently, running a hand through his spiked purple hair. Archie, along with Atlanta, was a year younger than the rest of them, but the two fifth years made up for it in excess with their determination, their thirst to prove themselves and their raw nerve – it seemed like Archie and Atlanta weren't afraid of anything that Cronus could throw at them.

"Come on Jay, get your head in the game." Atlanta called to him teasingly.

The seven of them had clashed somewhat at first, and there was still some lingering tension between Archie and Theresa most days. Theresa was gifted with the second sight – she was a seer and Archie thought the whole idea of foretelling the future was a big load of dragon dung. Fortunately, they all got along really well for the most part.

"You guys go ahead, we'll meet you on the pitch." Theresa told the others.

"I'll carry you if I have to." Herry warned, giving a meaningful look at Jay as he flexed one of his ultra-muscular arms. Then he picked up the ball case – which was rattling from the two feisty bludgers contained within – and headed out with the others.

"C'mon Neil, we can't play with only one beater." Atlanta told the blond boy on the couch, grabbing his wrist and towing him out of the room. While Herry was the right build for a beater through and through, nobody would have ever guessed that Neil – the boy in love with his own reflection – would ever be a beater. But the boy had the luck of the devil and somehow managed to hit every bludger that came his way. And almost always by accident, too.

"Can't play without a keeper either." Theresa said gently to Jay as soon as she heard the door close. "C'mon, we need you."

"I need to be prepared, Theresa-"

"Then think of this as training." she said, making her way to the broom closet. "Odie even caught the snitch last time. Think of it this way: the better we are on our brooms, the harder it'll be for Cronus to knock us off of them."

Jay rubbed his eyes before sighing. "Alright." He rose from his seat, pulling his yellow and black Hufflepuff tie over his head. As Jay stuffed his tie into his pant pocket, Theresa handed him his broom.

"C'mon Captain, better not keep the team waiting." Theresa said, pulling open the door to their makeshift common room. Jay followed her out and sealed the room behind them. As the two began to make their way down the corridor, Jay suddenly halted. Theresa turned to look at him, and was just in time to see him throw his leg over his broom. She raised an eyebrow at the brunette male. "Are you feeling alright, Jay?"

Aside from being the leader of their group, Jay was also the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and hated doing anything that could potentially stand in the way of practice time - including breaking school rules. Not that he never did, but usually any breaking of school rules that Jay did was usually neither his idea nor his choice.

"Yeah, but we've got a game to play. You coming?" He asked, hovering on his broom as he looked back at the redhead.

"Try and stop me." Theresa said, mounting her own broom. "Last one there is Finster's pet!"

"You're on!" Jay called, leaning forward on his broom and accelerating after the redhead who was already speeding down the corridor.

I always appreciate hearing what you have to say, so please review.