Percy Jackson was an insufferable, no good moron … who happened to also have mesmerizing sea green eyes and an impeccable knack for catching snitches.
Annabeth mentally slapped herself for that last thought. He was on the opposite team for goodness sake! Sure, they had been best friends in grade school before hogwarts … and he was surprisingly nice for the amount of popularity he had … But his and her competitiveness as seekers for opposing teams ruled out any friendliness the two could ever possibly have.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red and gold dive toward the ground. Oh no. Not this time. He may have caught more snitches than her in total, but she was the faster flyer. She dove after him.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you diving after the snitch, Jackson?" she quipped as she sped up next to him.
"I wouldn't have expected any less, Chase." He turned his head and flashed a lopsided grin. Annabeth couldn't stand how that smile made her wobble on her broom and lose a couple of feet on him. She would also never acknowledge the heat she felt in her cheeks when he looked at her.
She pushed her broom even faster, but Percy and her were still neck and neck. She could see the snitch merely a foot in front of her outstretched hand, but Percy's hand was equally close. She urged her broom forward, Percy's directly next to her. Her hand was inches away, when suddenly something hard slammed into her. A bludger. She careened into Percy. The last thing she saw was her head colliding with his, and then darkness.
Annabeth woke up in the infirmary with a very worried Jason peering down at her.
"Thank Merlin! Annabeth you've been knocked out for four hours." Jason exclaimed. Jason was her cousin on her mom's side, and the two were very close. Especially since they were both in Ravenclaw.
"Whoa," Annabeth shot straight up, but immediately regretted it after her head throbbed with the sudden movement. "What happened?"
"Both you and Percy were going for the snitch when a bludger knocked your head straight into his. Not to mention the fact that your wand broke and misfired a Mergio-Caput spell."
"It fired a spell? What did it hit?" Annabeth inquired.
"More like who did it hit." At that moment Annabeth realized her cot was directly next to none other than Percy Jackson, who was still asleep. "Turns out you and Percy are mind-bound until Slughorn gets a recipe for a potion to reverse it. He said this spell was extremely rare, and he was surprised to hear about how it happened." Jason finished.
"Mind-bound?" Annabeth asked, "What the heck does that mean?"
"If you two travel more than seven feet apart, an excruciating headache will ensue." Jason replied, "I just heard about it from Pomfrey."
Suddenly, the door to the infirmary burst open. In rushed a girl with caramel colored skin, and choppily braided hair. "Percy freaking Jackson you better be up." The girl grumbled as she stomped up to bis bed. Annabeth recognized her as Piper Mclean. She smiled to herself as she glanced over at a blushing Jason. He had had a crush on her from first year all the way to fourth year.
"Garh arg," Percy snorted as Piper flicked him in the forehead. "I was sleeping you know!" he exclaimed as he sat up in bed, clutching his head. Annabeth knew Percy and Piper were best friends, and she couldn't help but snicker at their dynamic.
Madame Pomfrey rushed over and scolded Piper for waking Percy. She then stood in front of both of their beds and explained to them the situation with the mind-binding curse.
"Really? I heard those were super difficult to cast." Percy noted as he pushed the sheet off him. Annabeth blushed when she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. She then worriedly looked down at her own chest, which was thankfully still clothed in her Ravenclaw jersey.
"The specifics are still being evaluated, but since this is a very tricky spell, it is unsurprising that Annabeth's wand was broken." Madame Pomfrey responded. "The spell was not fully completed, so you will thankfully not share thoughts. However, until Slughorn finds a recipe for an antidote, you two will have to stay within seven feet of each other."
"Are you sure the headache is really that bad? I mean, when I was little I had some pretty bad migraines." Percy stood up and walked away from her bed. Suddenly, an agonizing pain enveloped her head and she could feel herself passing out again. Stupid Jackson was her last thought before blacking out.
When Annabeth came to, she immediately sat up and full force glared at Percy, who was already sitting up.
"Madame Pomfrey said we were only out for two hours this time. Piper and your friend Jason left half an hour ago for curfew." Percy said as he looked over at her.
"Okay, from now on you need to stay within seven feet of me." Annabeth grumbled as she reached into her pocket. "Come here," she unraveled a piece of spool she remembered pocketing earlier that day. She measured out seven feet of it and tied one end to her wrist, and the other to Percy's wrist. "Now we can't get separated." she stated satisfactorily.
"Okay," Percy mused, "but how are we going to sleep in our separate dorms? And go to class? I'm in Gryffindor, and you're in Ravenclaw so we don't have the same schedule."
"Well, Headmistress Mcgonagall will probably rearrange our schedules, and we could probably sleep here for the time being. " She replied, "But I have no idea how we're gonna practice Quidditch, or go to the bathroom for that matter."
"Speaking of which, nature is calling…" Percy sheepishly fretted.
"Oh boy…" Annabeth responded with an exasperated sigh.
They got up and made their way down the hall. They were both clothed in their Quidditch sweats. And, thankfully for Annabeth's heart, Percy had put back on a shirt.
The hall was dark and quiet. During after hours no one roamed the school except for teachers and Filch.
They reached the lavatory, and Percy slipped into a stall as she stood against the wall. The string trailed underneath the door to Percy. She heard a flush as he walked out and washed his hands.
"Well now I've got to use the loo." she said as he shook his hands dry.
They went into the girls bathroom and repeated the process.
Once they were both finished, they went back to the infirmary. "Well, I'm not tired in the slightest after that long nap" Percy stated as he plopped down on his cot. "I also have some things back at Gryffindor tower I need if I'm going to be staying here."
"Well, first off it wasn't a nap, it was a knocked out state of being," she replied. "And secondly, even though I need stuff too we can't just burst into the dorms after curfew."
"Well, we can be extra quiet then!" He exclaimed with a furrowed brow, which was just too dam cute.
"Well, we could just slip in quickly," Annabeth pondered, "I can't sleep like this either." She glanced down at her grass stained jersey.
"Perfect! It's settled then." Percy beamed. "Let's go."
When they reached the Gryffindor common room entrance, they hadn't encountered Filch yet, but they weren't eager to see how long their luck would last. Percy made her cover her ears as he uttered the password. They slipped in softly, and padded their way up the boys staircase. It felt weird for her to be in Gryffindor territory, especially on the boys' side. She noticed it smelled a little like pinewood.
When Percy got into his dorm room he immediately went over to one of the beds, which she assumed was his. She glanced around at the four other beds surrounding the room. Suddenly, a light flicked on and a wiry boy with curly black hair and elfish features grinned at them.
"Jackson, you're back!" He exclaimed with a pat on Percy's back. "Who's the lady?" the boy wiggled his eyebrows and nudged Percy in the groin.
"Oof Leo," Percy grunted. "She's just a friend." He went on to explain the situation to Leo, and his other four roommates. Which consisted of twin brown haired boys named the Stoll brothers, and a tall Asian boy named Frank.
"Whoa, Percy how're you going to attend classes and everything?" Frank asked, a little wide-eyed.
"We're still figuring out the details, but I'll keep you posted." Percy flashed a lopsided grin, which Annabeth had to admit was extremely endearing.
They bid their goodbyes and headed toward Ravenclaw Tower, which wasn't too far.
"The more you take, the more you leave behind." The door to the tower announced as they walked up to it.
"I still don't understand how all Ravenclaw's have to answer a freaking riddle when they want to go back to their room." Percy mumbled.
"Footsteps." Annabeth dictated as the door swung open. She couldn't help but feel a little proud when she saw the surprised look on Percy's face.
They made their way up the familiar steps to the dorm. Since the staircase was so tiny, Annabeth could smell the scent of saltwater on Percy, which was extremely confusing since the only body of water for miles was a freshwater lake. She found the smell intoxicating, nonetheless.
"Here we are," she whispered as she nudged the door open.
They crept into the room towards her bed in the corner near the window. She started packing a knapsack full of stuff. Abruptly, she felt a tap on the shoulder and she whirled around to come face to face with one of her roommates, Reyna.
"I heard what happened," she started, "you alright? Jason told me all about it."
"Yeah, we're just gathering some things to tide us over for the night." Annabeth replied.
Reyna glanced at Percy. "Jackson." she nodded at him and went back to her bed.
They hurried down the staircase and out into the halls of Hogwarts once again.
"I would've caught the snitch you know," Percy laughed as he shoulder bumped her goodnaturedly.
"No way," she quipped back, "I totally got to it first."
"Hey, we may have been rivals on the Quidditch pitch since second year when we both were made seeker," he started, "but I remember playing soccer in muggle grade school with you. I always scored more points." he grinned a stupidly charming grin at her.
"Well, I always was the faster runner, which is also true when it comes to flying." she smiled back at him.
They both started to laugh a little at reminiscing of the old times.
When they reached the infirmary, there weren't any lights on, and the darkness outside had increased tenfold.
They both brushed their teeth and got ready for bed. There was an awkward perturbation where they wondered how to change, but finally decided on untying themselves and changing with the hospital curtain drawn between them.
"Goodnight, Annabeth." Percy yawned as he settled into his bed.
"Goodnight, Percy." Annabeth smiled to herself as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Hello! My name is Alex and I'm so sorry if my writing was bad. Thank you for reading! Any constructive criticism and suggestions for the plot a greatly appreciated.