*Here's chapter 2. :) Please please please comment, cause I need to know if this story's any good or not. Thanks! And just a reminder, this is not a crossover between Percy Jackson & Harry Potter, - Hmm, new idea alert! - I'm just taking the idea of a ball from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And all of this story will be in Percy's POV.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!*

*Chapter 2 - I get strangled by a bow tie*

Now that I had a date, thankfully Annabeth, I felt less nervous than before. I didn't have to worry about the pressure of asking someone to the Ball. Though as soon as Will Solace asked Drew she immediately said yes, and batted her eyelashes at me as I went by, as though she were trying to make me jealous.

Annabeth, walking with me, gave out an exasperated sigh and pulled me away by the hand, much to Drew's displeasure. She huffed and tossed her hair back before stomping off.

"So, Seaweed Brain, are you ready?" Annabeth asked.

"Ready for what? The Ball? Then no."

Annabeth laughed. "That's not what I meant. I mean, are you ready for your fitting?"

I came to a hault right then and there. Annabeth, suprised that I stopped so abruptly, stopped too and turned towards me with a grin on her face.

"Fitting?" I said. "No way. I don't think so, Wise Girl."

Annabeth sighed. "Stop being such a baby. We just have to make sure your tux fits you."

"Yeah, and if Clarisse is 'helping,' then I'll have pins stuck in me for sure."

Annabeth's grin grew wider. "Oh, your invincible. You wouldn't be able to feel it anyways, so stop being a chicken and come on. Grover, Travis and Chris are already there."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the Athena cabin, where Grover, Travis and Chris were already getting their fitting. The girls, Clarisse, Katie and Juniper, were shoving pins into their legs and wrapping measuring tape around their waists - with their arms by their sides, so that their arms were tightly wrapped too.

I busted out laughing. I had to admit, coming in here had been deffinitely worth it. They actually looked scared, like any second now the girls were going to cover their faces in makeup as a torture session.

They all glared at me. "Laugh it up, Percy. But our fitting is almost done. Then we'll be able to watch Annabeth torture you," Travis said smugly.

Once I was able to catch my breath, I gasped, "Do you need a makeover, too? Cause I can gladly ask the Aphrodite girls to come in here and give you one." I was laughing so hard I had to lean against Annabeth so that I wouldn't fall over.

"NO!" they shouted together. "No makeup! We'll do anything!"

Annabeth, Clarisse, Katie and Juniper were laughing as hard as I was. The guys glared at us, but I ignored it, even though I knew they would get me back someday.

Katie was laughing with her eyes closed, so she didn't see herself jam a pin into Travis's side.

"OUCH!" Travis yelled. "Gods, Katie, open your eyes so you can see where your putting those pins," he said, wincing as he carefully pulled out the pin with his free hand.

Katie choked down her laughter and tried to be serious. "Sorry, Travis. Anyways, you guys are done. You can go. Go on, your free."

The guys sighed in relief and took off the measuring tape and pins. They went behind the curtain that divided the cabin from boys and girls to rechange. I quickly stopped laughing and gulped. Now it was my turn.

The cabin door was wide open, so I did the only thing I could think of: I ran.

Annabeth must have knew I would try and run, though, because she grabbed me around the waist and held on fast as Clarisse and Katie quickly went to shut the door.

I saw Nico walking past, and I yelled, "Nico! Their trying to make me do a fitting! Help!"

Nico looked at me as Annabeth smirked and dragged me back inside the cabin. Clarisse and Katie waved cheerfully to Nico as they shut the door.

Through the window I could see Nico staring at the closed door in suprise, then he busted out laughing and walked away.

"Traitor," I growled as Juniper handed me a long clothes bag. Annabeth pushed me behind the curtain as Grover, Travis and Chris came out. They grinned at me mockingly as they passed.

"Good luck," Travis said to me. "Cause you'll need it."

"Okay, ladies, we are leaving," Chris said, heading for the door, but Clarisse blocked his path.

"Oh no, you don't. We have a few extra suprises in store for all of you before the Ball."

Grover swallowed nervously. "Suprises?"

Juniper smiled. "Yep. And it's all thanks to Percy."

Oh my gods, I am so dead, I thought. I sighed when I was finished dressing, and stepped out from behind the curtain.

Clarisse snickered, of course, but Annabeth was staring at me in awe.

I blushed. "It doesn't look that bad, does it?" My tux was, of course, black. But in the breast pocket there was a sea green pocket hanky. I squirmed, feeling self-concious. "Um, the whole tuxedo with a pocket hanky thing isn't working for me."

Annabeth blinked a few times to clear her head and came over to me. She straightened my Jacket and made sure there wasn't even a hair on it.

"Percy, you look fine. Now stay still, and stop squirming. I need to put the bow tie on."

"Bow tie? I don't think so," I said, grimacing at the thing in her hands.

Annabeth sighed. Clarisse quickly grabbed my arms while Annabeth tied the bow tie - too tightly - around my neck.

"This isn't necessary, you know!" I said. If I hated bow ties then, I definitely hate them now.

"Shut it, punk," Clarisse said. "It took us over an hour to find this bow tie, so you're wearing it."

"Well, you didn't have to get the bow tie in the first place!"

"Can I smack him?" Clarisse asked Annabeth casually, as though she did it often.

Annabeth laughed. "No. Don't worry, he'll be with the rest of the boys soon to get their 'suprise.'"

I glared at Annabeth. "Suprise?"

Clarisse laughed. "Oh yeah. Katie, how's it going back there?"

"Fine! Almost got them good and tight," Katie called back. She'd taken the boys behind the curtain to do who knows what, and I had a feeling it wasn't good.

I tugged my arms slightly in Clarisse's grasp, wondering if I could escape, open the door, and bolt before the girls caught me again.

Clarisse grunted and squeezed my arms so hard I thought she stopped the blood circulation.

Nope. I wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay, just a quick tug . . ." Annabeth muttered, and the bow was secured. She stepped back to study her work.

"Hmm. I think the bow needs to be a little tighter," she said.

Clarisse suddenly moved, though somehow still holding my arms against my sides. I saw hands - that did not look like girl hands - move and tug at my bow tie. The hands pulled the bow, making it so tight I couldn't breathe.

"Can't - Breathe!" I gasped out. The hands let go, and I spun around to see Connor Stoll.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "And why did you strangle me?"

Connor shrugged. "I thought it would be funnier if you thought Clarisse did it."

I did, for a moment, think it was Clarisse until I saw the hands.

"Excuse me?" Clarisse scoffed.

Connor grinned. "You're talking to the master of pranks, here. And I'm here because I'm looking for Travis. We were going to put syrup on Clovis's face while he was sleeping."

"Like he would notice. He'd just fall back asleep," Annabeth said, messing with my hair and attempting to push it flat. Stubbornly, I shook my head hard and messed it up again. For some reason, I suddenly had a strong desire to stick my tongue out at her like a five-year-old. So I did, then she did the natural thing. She stuck her tongue out back. I smiled at her.

"Mmmm! C-mm-or! H-lp!" came a muffled voice from behind the curtain.

Connor frowned. "What was that?"

Katie came out from behind the curtain holding duck tape in one hand and eye liner in the other. "Oh, nothing. Just experimenting. You should go, Travis will be looking for you," she said innocently, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

Connor looked at all of us. "Um, what's going on here?"

"Just a simple fitting for the ball," Annabeth said breezily, wrapping an arm around my waist. "And Percy's going to be here for a while. So go find Travis, and we'll catch up with you later."

Connor shrugged and left. That's when I suddenly realized he'd left the door open. I started to move, then stopped and glanced at Annabeth suspicously. Then it came to me quickly, and that's when I knew. She'd put her arm around me - so tight that she crushed me to her - so that I wouldn't try to escape, knowing Connor would leave the door open. That also explained why my arms were starting to go numb - Clarisse's hands felt like a tourniquet.

But that didn't explain the duck tape, eyeliner, and the muffled voice behind the curtain.

"Katie, Juniper, are they ready?" Annabeth asked.

Juniper, who'd been helping Katie, emerged from behind the curtain too, a smile on her face. "They're ready."

Annabeth smiled, and I didn't like the looks of it. I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Percy, go on ahead and redress, and then we'll give you your suprise," she said, pushing me behind the curtain. I was about to turn around and ask her what the suprise is, but sight of the boys caught me up short. I stood frozen.

They were all staring at me, a get out now while you can look on all of their faces. Their mouths were covered in tape - that explained the duck tape and muffling - and there was eyeliner drawn on them.

With a terrible jolt, I realized what the 'suprise' was that the girls had in store for us.

I rushed over to them and brought out Riptide. I guess the girls hadn't given thought of me cutting them free. I was just cutting through the tape when hands grabbed my arms and pulled Riptide out of my grasp.

"I don't think so, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said from somewhere behind me. "Girls, tie him up and put a cover over his tux. I don't want the makeup to ruin it."

"Your crazy!" I said. "You tied us up just to give us makeovers?"

Annabeth stepped in front of me and leaned foward until her face was just inches from mine. "Yep. It's tradition. We usually have Connor too, but he managed to get out this year."

"We'll get him next year," Clarisse said.

Annabeth smiled. "Right. Let the makeover begin."

I swallowed.

Gods. I'd rather get strangled by the bow tie.

*Chapter 3 coming soon. Comment!*