Hey readers! I've got another update! Thank you to everyone who favourited, followed and/or reviewed! You guys are all awesome! I just wanted to add that the italics in the story is a flashback.
Disclaimer: If I were J.K Rowling and/or Rick Riordan, I wouldn't be writing this disclaimer, therefore I am not them. Each story belongs to their respective owners.
"I… uh… I wasn't…" Percy had gone red in the face. Annabeth could see the panic in his eyes as he struggled to come up with a believable explanation. There was no way they can get out of this one by pretending the water hadn't soaked him like it did the brunette who was now eyeing him suspiciously.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Annabeth wondered how disappointed the Stoll brothers would be if they knew that all the lying lessons they had given Percy had not paid off. Blame the ADHD.
On the other side of the room, Harry and Ron were watching the exchange with interest, wondering how it was going to end.
"How did you do that so fast?" She exclaimed.
This time it was Percy who looked confused. He looked at Annabeth for help but one look at her and he knew it was in vain. She had her Athena thinking face on, as she tried to work out what the girl could mean by her question. Did this girl know about the world of the gods? Could she be demigod? Did gods even have children in England anymore?
"What… what do you mean by that?" He asked hesitantly.
"Oh where are my manners! I'm Hermione Granger! I'm staying the night here with boyfriend Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." She looked at the Percy expectantly, as if waiting for a reaction, before continuing, "I was just wondering how you did that, I didn't see you take out your wand! Speaking of where is your wand now?"
Before Percy could reply with another one of his notorious answers, Annabeth spoke up, "Who are you?"
Hermione looked at her confused, "I told you, my name i-".
"No, I mean what are you? Are you a half-blood?" Annabeth inquired. Hermione stared at her, the look on her face was on of outrage, as if asking if Annabeth was serious.
"Why should her blood status matter?" A voice interrupted their conversation before Annabeth could answer. Harry was standing up, staring at Annabeth with obvious disgust. Anger was rolling off of him in waves. Next to him, Ron was also standing with a wooden stick in his hand, pointing it towards Annabeth. "It doesn't matter whether your parents are muggles or wizards! We are all the same!" Harry cried.
Percy took a step towards his girlfriend as cocked his head to the side in a child-like manner and watched his lookalike and his friend, "What in Hades are you talking about?"
Percy's answer seemed to anger Harry further, because he also pulled out a stick similar to the one Ron was holding and pointed it at the two demigods, "Who are you anyway, some Death Eaters that haven't been captured by the Aurors yet? Well for your information, blood status isn't relevant! She's a muggleborn and she's till the brightest witch of our year!"
"Okay, first of all calm down. Let's try not to do anything irrational and refrain from pointing wooden sticks at my girlfriend. Secondly, will someone please explain to me what in Hades are muggles and Death Eaters? Who in the right mind would want to eat Thanatos? The guy's good looking, according to Hazel anyway, but I can't see why you would want to have him for lun- Ow!" Annabeth stepped on Percy's foot to get him to stop talking.
Percy had now moved until he was standing directly next to Annabeth, one hand clutching Riptide tightly in his pocket. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annabeth reach towards her waistband where he knew her drakon bone sword was hidden.
Hermione, who was still standing in between the two glaring groups of people, quickly moved off to her friends' side. She had also taken out a stick but she was the only one not pointing it at the couple. The two demigods watched as she leaned over Harry and Ron and whispered something into their ears. Harry's eyebrows shot upwards as he lowered his stick and turned towards Hermione. Ron didn't move but loosened his grip on his stick a little bit.
Annabeth and Percy shared a look, an understanding came between them. They didn't know what those sticks did, they didn't look very dangerous but the demigods had learned a thing or two about not judging something by the way it looked over the years. They had to get those sticks away from the three people holding them. It was times like this that a child of Hermes would have been very useful.
What happened next was done so effectively and quickly by Annabeth and Percy that Harry, Hermione and Ron didn't know what hit them until after it was done.
Using the three people's distraction as an advantage, Percy and Annabeth both advanced towards either side. While Annabeth retrieved her bone sword, Percy quickly pulled out Riptide and uncapped his pen. Ron was the first one to notice their movement and he yelled out something that sounded like 'stupid fries' at the top of his lungs. A bright red light shot out of his stick but the demigods were no longer in that spot. Percy was already next to Ron, he kicked the back of the ginger boy's knees, causing him to fall forward onto his knees and groan. Percy then took the seemingly harmless, light shooting stick out of his hand.
On the other side, Annabeth had made her way behind Harry and Hermione. Ron's shout had made them both look up and realise the demigods had moved positions. Slyly, Annabeth tapped on Harry and Hermione's back, making them both turn around swiftly. Before they could react, Annabeth plucked the sticks from their hands, "I'll just take these, thank you!"
Then she brought her knee up, straight into Harry's stomach. He cried out before falling on the floor, clutching his stomach. Annabeth turned to Hermione with her fists clenched but the bushy-haired girl was already on the floor next to Harry.
Percy, who was busy tying up Ron's hands and legs, let out a snort of laughter. "Nico was right! You really are hanging out with me too much Wise girl!"
Annabeth scowled. Hermione let out a cry at the sight of the red-headed boy, "Ron!"
"He'll be fine. It'll take much more than a little kick to kill a man." Reassured Percy, before he turned back to his girlfriend, "I'm going to go find that bartender and see if he's got a stick too, just to make sure he doesn't try anything funny." He then proceeded to walk towards the bar.
Annabeth's storm grey eyes studied her opponents with the ever-present calculating look in her eyes. She took a deep breath before asking her question, just as Hermione opened her mouth and asked the exact same thing, "What are you?"
The two girls glared at each other but before either could do something to the other, Harry spoke up. "We'll tell you if first, but only if you promise to tell us about you afterwards."
"No!" Hermione objected, "We don't need to tell you anything."
Annabeth raised her bone sword threateningly, "You're in no position to bargain."
Hermione turned back to Harry, "Don't do it Harry. We don't need to get in trouble with Kingsley now. Things are just starting to cool down."
Harry sighed, "What other choice do we have Hermione?"
Annabeth started to get impatient. "Anytime now."
Harry ignored Hermione's cries of protest and started his explanation, "Hermione, Ron and I are wizards and witches."The wooden sticks you took from us are our wands, what we use to do magic."
"Wizards? Wands? Do you seriously expect me to believe that?" The daughter of Athena laughed bitterly.
"It's true! What you heard Ron shout and that red light was the stunning spell!"
Annabeth snorted but didn't interrupt.
"To answer your friend's earlier question, muggles are what we call the non-magical people."
"Like mortals." muttered Annabeth.
Harry didn't hear her. "Death Eaters are a group of people who followed the dark wizard Voldemort and after Voldemort's defeat last year at Hogwarts, our school, the Aurors, who are our version of the police, have been hunting them down to send them to Azkaban, the wizarding prison."
"So you're telling me you compared to Percy and I to some group of crazy fanatics? Whatever happened to manners?" Annabeth mused.
"Sorry, we're all still a bit on edge." He put his hand out for Annabeth to shake in a sign of peace.
Annabeth accepted the hand but her mind was working a mile a minute, processing every piece of information she was just given. The warning Rachel had given her before the Oracle had left for London the week before finally seemed to make sense.
"Hey Red! Have you finished packing?" Annabeth called out as she entered the Oracle's cave. Inside she found the red-haired oracle sitting on the fuzzy rug, wearing her usual paint splattered clothes.
"Hmm…"was her only answer. Rachel was too busy working on a sketch that was sprawled on the floor.
Annabeth leaned over to see what she was drawing. In the sketch stood a magnificent castle, but it was in ruins. In the middle of a large, stone courthouse stood two figures with their arms outstretched. Anger was on both of their faces, and Annabeth could tell that they both had the intent to kill. The drawing was obviously not finished yet, and Annabeth couldn't help but wonder who these people were and why they were fighting.
Suddenly, Rachel grabbed onto Annabeth's wrist tightly. Her expression was serious and as she opened her mouth to speak, her voice sounded different too, older and heavier. "Daughter of wisdom, keep an open mind and open heart. Allies may be found even in the darkest of places."
Rachel went limp for a second, landing with a thud on the floor before the daughter of Athena could grab her. After a second, Rachel pushed herself off of the floor while rubbing the bump on her head. "What did I say this time? I rather not speak another prophecy that could kill you so soon."
"It wasn't a prophecy, don't worry. Now let's get you some ice for your head…"
"Okay, I guess it's my turn," Annabeth muttered, "Percy and I are half-bloods, but not the same kind as yours. We are better known as-"
Before Annabeth could finish her sentence, Percy appeared back inside the room with Tom the bartender and another man trailing behind him, "Looks like we've got ourselves a guest!"
Here are some review responses-
snowflake45 (guest): Thank you! That means so much to me! And don't worry, I don't plan on giving up this story anytime soon!
katrina (guest): I'm happy you like it! Well Annabeth is the careful one, Percy is our distracted Seaweed Brain! And don't worry, I used to read HP/PJO crossovers before I read Harry Potter too! :)
jodyowl11: That's pretty accurate! I'm pleased to hear that you think my story is promising and I'm sorry about the cliffy (not really). Here's the update! *smirking face*
AutumnLeaves03: Thank you!
ViolaBuddy4Life: Thanks! I love you too! Thanks for being so supportive!
Reviews are my motivation (hint, hint)