I don't hold any rights for the original works of the authors of the potter and Jackson universe.
Stench
Percy woke up with a start; he was lying on a soft bed. The bed itself was large and Percy observed that he had occupied only one side of it, the other side though vacant looked used.
"Daddy!"
Percy turned to look in the direction the voice had come from and found a little girl of about four years of age with blonde hair in piggy tails and sea green eyes which resembled his. She was wearing pajamas with dolphin designs on them.
"Daddy! It's my birthday! We got to open the presents." She said reaching for Percy's right arm and impatiently pulling at it. Percy was too shocked at the site of the girl that he failed to register that her speech was far clearer and advanced to be that of a four year old.
"Daddy!" the girl pulled at Percy hand with all might.
"Sorry honey." Percy was surprised that he used those words. He had felt some strange emotion stir inside. "I'm still feeling a bit drowsy." Percy picked up the girl and then planted a kiss on her forehead, "happy birthday Sofia. Where's your mom?"
Sofia planted her own kiss on Percy's right cheek and pointed towards the door. Percy carried the little girl who had called him daddy to meet some woman he himself had called the girl's mom. Percy was both confused and worried at his own action but for some reason he did not stop himself. He slowly carried the girl who was going on chatting excitedly telling him of her plans for day. She seemed to be particularly excited about Montauk that they were leaving for within hours. Percy smiled at the little girl's enthusiasm; they reached the ground floor and went towards a room which looked like a study.
Percy saw that the room was filled with Architecture models of different kind, plans and diagrams were all over the walls. I the middle of the room stood a young woman with blonde hair whose beauty took Percy's breath away. Her grey eyes held lot of wisdom and power.
"Finally up, are we seaweed brain." She said with amusement clear in her voice. Percy saw that her abdomen was swollen indicating that she was pregnant.
"Mom, can we leave now? Daddy is up after all?" the little girl Percy was holding said.
"wisegirl." Percy said as he slowly walked towards her. The woman smirked in a way to say 'I know something you don't' kind of way.
"'arry! 'arry! Wake up."
The voice distant yet seemed to come from everywhere. Percy looked around confused. 'Who was 'arry?'' he tried looking at wisegirl for an answer but soon realized that Sofia was no longer in his arms.
"'arry! 'arry! Wake up."
The voice was now louder. Percy looked around frenetically only to find that the whole room had been replaced with only white, everywhere he looked it was white, there was no door, no walls only white.
"Go, seaweed brain, we were not meant to be." Percy looked at the blonde woman horrified. "Don't say that! Please don't say that. We are meant to be. I won't go Annabeth, I won't go." Percy yelled, "We are together, we are a family, you, me, Sofia and the baby." Percy was now in tears.
The ''arry 'arry' chant had become unbearable, "Please, wisegirl, if you don't like the beach we can go to the museum. But don't ask me to go. I can't live without you Annabeth, please don't make me go."
"Wake up, 'arry!" the voice yelled.
Annabeth gave a crying Percy a sad smile, "you have to go Percy." Before Percy could protest she continued, "You promised to lead your life to full, so please keep your promise. Go."
"arry!"
The white room faded, Annabeth disappeared and a new room came into focus. A different blonde was in front of him. She looked deeply concerned and anxious.
"'arry, are you alright. Why are you crying?" Percy recognized her as Fleur but he couldn't get his tears to stop. It was not the first time he had that dream or something similar. That dream had plagued him before. It was a reminder of what he could never have, a family with Annabeth, a family with his wisegirl.
Percy was sitting on the bed, the bed which was in the room of Fred and Gorge Weasley. He had come up earlier to take a nap before dinner vowing to the late night he had the previous night. He had fallen asleep and had ended up with the dream which had not plagued him in a long time.
"'arry, are you alright. Do you want me to fetch Molly?" Fleur sat down on the bed and pulled him in a comforting hug.
Peristrefo informed him that his heart beat was unsteady and that he needed to calm down. It also informed him that the veela in her worry had lost control of her allure and was oozing power, which would send any lesser man drooling. Percy did not know if it was due to the allure or not but he found her hug comforting. Oddly enough Percy started to talk,
"I had this dream, this wonderful, wonderful dream." Fleur did nothing to release him from the hug. "I was older had a family, a daughter and a wife along with a child on the way." Percy held back a sob,
"The moment I saw the little girl, these emotions, emotions that I have never felt before grip me. I just, just want to hold her. Play with her and just spend my time with her," Percy released himself from Fleur' embrace.
"And the wife, such intelligence in her eyes, such wisdom and beauty. I didn't want to let go, I didn't." Percy clucked humorlessly, "I know that it was a dream, but still, I couldn't help myself but fall in love. Oh, how I wanted them to be real, so real."
Fleur did not say a word, they were not needed. Percy took a deep breath.
"Please don't tell anyone, not about this dream. Keep it to yourself."
Fleur nodded her head, "eet will stay with me." She leaned forward and placed a kiss on Percy's forehead. "I came 'ere to inform you about dinner, eet ees in five minutes." after a final look of concern she got up and left. Percy took the time to compose himself and then went down for dinner.
The dinner itself was not a note worthy affair but Percy observed that Fleur was a bit quiet and occasionally glanced at Percy. Hermione and Ron were bickering about importance of properly choosing the subjects for a proper carrier. Soon Bill Weasley had arrived and time was spent greeting him and learning a thing or two from him.
Percy that night Iris messaged his mom and talked to her, Paul and little Clara. He did not tell his mother of the relapse of the dream but his ever observant mother had told him that he needed to be careful as he was lying to the people he was around, the guilt could influence his dreams, thoughts and action.
Percy remained within the confines of the Burrow's garden over the next few weeks. He spent most of his time in playful flirting with Hermione and Fleur. Fleur flirted right back and most of the times tried to do so by light teasing. Hermione though found it a bit difficult to take in. Percy had noted that Mrs. Weasley was very much uncomfortable with it. She tried to keep them apart by assigning them different chores which did not help her popularity. Percy learnt that Ginny was not Fleur' number one fan and took every opportunity to insult her directly or indirectly. Hermione's attitude towards the French girl had improved after Percy split his attention almost equally between the two. Percy knew that the playful flirting which he engaged with her had eased her a bit also instill a bit of self esteem about her physique. Ron had expressed his unhappiness at Percy for flirting with Hermione, but the girl had put the red head in his place by stating that who she flirted with was her own business and the red head, friend or not couldn't interfere. This had led to some tension which Percy resolved by allowing Ron to ride on Harry Potter's firebolt broom.
Percy had tried to steer them towards games other that quidditch, as such going into the air was not Percy's favored pass time. Zeus was only looking for an excuse to blast him into pieces. So he introduced monopoly and other such board games, which made him popular with Hermione but not so much with Ron. When Percy got Ginny to join the game, Ron tried his luck and seemed to enjoy it.
The holiday could be termed as peaceful but the zygon terrorists under the leadership of Voldemort were killing people every other day. The gods had specifically ordered Percy not to go looking for zygons and call them for confrontations. Gods believed that such an act could lead to escalation. So Percy was resigned to wait for the zygons to come and challenge him. Every day he waited more people were becoming extinct. Percy could not understand what the mortal intelligence departments were doing. Even during the demigod conflicts it took active application of mist to keep them out. Here they had no such thing stopping them; by the gods Percy could not understand what was protecting the zygons. Most knew nothing of the mortal world yet they were not being discovered.
Mrs. Weasley actively tried to sensor what the people coming from outside brought in as news and gossips but she had been vastly unsuccessful. Harry Potter's birthday celebrations were blemished with macabre report by Remus Lupin. He had looked gaunt and grim, his brown hair streaked liberally with gray, his clothes more ragged and patched than ever.
"There have been another couple of dementor attacks," he announced, as Mrs. Weasley passed him a large slice of birthday cake. "And they've found Igor Karkaroff's body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it... well, frankly, I'm surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters; Sirius's brother, Regulus, only managed a few days as far as I can remember."
"Yes, well," said Mrs. Weasley, frowning, "perhaps we should talk about something diff..."
"Did you hear about Florean Fortescue, Remus?" asked Bill, who was being plied with wine by Fleur. "The man who ran..."
"Is the ice-cream place in Diagon Alley? What's happened to him?" Hermione had asked.
"Dragged off, by the look of his place."
"Why?" asked Ron, while Mrs. Weasley pointedly glared at Bill.
"Who knows? He must've upset them somehow. He was a good man, Florean."
"Talking of Diagon Alley," said Mr. Weasley, "looks like Ollivander's gone too."
"The wandmaker?" said Ginny, looking startled.
"That's the one. Shop's empty. No sign of a struggle. No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was kidnapped."
"But what'll people do for wands?"
"They'll make do with other makers," said Lupin. "But Ollivander was the best, and if the other side have got him it's not so good for us."
The day after this rather gloomy birthday tea, their letters and booklists arrived from Hogwarts.
Harry Potter's included a surprise: he had been made Quidditch Captain.
"That gives you equal status with prefects!" cried Hermione happily. "You can use our special bathroom now and everything!"
"Am I to consider this an invitation Ms Granger?" Percy said with humor. Hermione glared and Ron made a disapproving noise.
But seeing the badge red head's mood changed, "Harry, this is so cool, you're my Captain... if you let me back on the team, I suppose, ha ha..."
"Well, I don't suppose we can put off a trip to Diagon Alley much longer now you've got these," sighed Mrs. Weasley, looking down Ron...s booklist. "We'll go on Saturday as long as your father doesn't have to go into work again. I'm not going there without him."
"Mum, d'you honestly think You-Know-Who's going to be hiding behind a bookshelf in Flourish and Blotts?" sniggered Ron.
"Fortescue and Ollivander went on holiday, did they?" said Mrs. Weasley, firing up at once. "If you think security's a laughing matter you can stay behind and I'll get your things myself..."
"No, I wanna come, I want to see Fred and George's shop!" said Ron hastily.
"Then you just buck up your ideas, young man, before I decide you're too immature to come with us!" said Mrs. Weasley angrily, snatching up her clock, all nine hands of which were still pointing at "mortal peril," and balancing it on top of a pile of just-laundered towels. "And that goes for returning to Hogwarts as well!"
Ron turned to stare incredulously at Percy as his mother hoisted the laundry basket and the teetering clock into her arms and stormed out of the room.
"Blimey... you can't even make a joke round here anymore..."
But Ron was careful not to be flippant about Voldemort over the next few days. Saturday dawned without any more outbursts from Mrs. Weasley, though she seemed very tense at breakfast. Bill, who would be staying at home with Fleur (much to Hermione and Ginny's pleasure) passed a full money bag across the table to Percy.
"Where's mine?" demanded Ron at once, his eyes wide.
"That's already Harry's, idiot," said Bill. "I got it out of your vault for you, Harry, because it's taking about five hours for the public to get to their gold at the moment, the goblins have tightened security so much. Two days ago Arkie Philpott had a Probity Probe stuck up his…Well, trust me, this way's easier."
"Thanks, Bill," Percy said as he pocketed the gold.
"E is always so thoughtful," purred Fleur adoringly, stroking Bill's nose. Ginny mimed vomiting into her cereal behind Fleur. Percy saw it but did not react. The red headed girl needed to resolve her issues with her future sister in law but it was not something Percy was going to get involved in.
It was an overcast, murky day. One of the special Ministry of Magic cars, was awaiting them in the front yard when they emerged from the house, pulling on their cloaks, well most of them Percy had gone for a Belstaff milford coat at Hermione's questioning look Percy had shrugged. Percy had to give a huge sacrifice to Zeus so as to see through it that he did not get blasted of the sky.
"It's good Dad can get us these again," said Ron appreciatively, stretching luxuriously as the car moved smoothly away from the Burrow, Bill and Fleur waving from the kitchen window. He, Percy, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting in roomy comfort in the wide backseat.
"Don't get used to it, it's only because of Harry," said Mr. Weasley over his shoulder. He and Mrs. Weasley were in front with the Ministry driver; the front passenger seat had obligingly stretched into what resembled a two-seater sofa. "He's been given top-grade security status. And we'll be joining up with additional security at the Leaky Cauldron too."
Percy said nothing. He was capable of defending himself but Harry Potter was not. Percy on principle hated shopping so he wanted this done and over with.
"Here you are, then," said the driver, a surprisingly short while later, speaking for the first time as he slowed in Charing Cross Road and stopped outside the Leaky Cauldron. "I'm to wait for you, any idea how long you'll be?"
"A couple of hours, I expect," said Mr. Weasley. "Ah, good, he's here!"
Percy imitated Mr. Weasley and peered through the window. There were no Aurors waiting outside the inn, but instead the gigantic, black-bearded form of Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, wearing a long beaverskin coat, beaming at the sight of Harry Potter's (Percy Jackson) face and oblivious to the startled stares of passing Mortals.
"Harry!" he boomed, sweeping Percy into a bone-crushing hug the moment Percy had stepped out of the car Percy had received many more and much potent hugs from his brother Tyson so he didn't mind the half-lessergiant . "Buckbeak... Witherwings, I mean... yeh should see him, Harry, he's so happy ter be back in the open air..."
"Glad he's pleased," Percy grinned for the man's benefit. "We didn't know 'security' meant you."
"I know, jus' like old times, innit? See, the Ministry wanted ter send a bunch o' Aurors, but Dumbledore said I'd do," said Hagrid proudly, throwing out his chest and tucking his thumbs into his pockets. "Let's get goin' then... after yeh, Molly, Arthur..."
Percy was truly interested by this. The ministry of magic had too many of voldemort supporters. Putting a guard of the Aurors in charge of security or outright surrender could end up being the same thing.
The Leaky Cauldron was for most part completely empty. Only Tom the landlord, wizened and toothless, remained of the old crowd. He looked up hopefully as they entered, but before he could speak, Hagrid said importantly, "Jus' passin' through today, Tom, sure yeh understand, Hogwarts business, yeh know."
Tom nodded gloomily and returned to wiping glasses; Percy, Hermione, Hagrid, and the Weasleys walked through the bar and out into the chilly little courtyard at the back where the dustbins stood. Hagrid raised his pink umbrella and rapped a certain brick in the wall, which opened at once to form an archway onto a winding cobbled street. They stepped through the entrance and paused, looking around. Diagon Alley had changed from what the videos had shown. The colorful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these somber purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose.
Bellatrix Lestrange was sneering from the front of the nearest apothecary. A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. On the other hand, a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts, under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front:
AMULETS
Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi! A seedy-looking little zygon was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passersby.
"One for your little girl, madam?" he called at Mrs. Weasley as they passed, leering at Ginny.
"Protect her pretty neck?"
Percy did not react in the slightest, outwardly that is, but inward he became very alert. The possible exits in this place were limited. He would need aerial support. His old friend Blackjack was still his companion in the skies but he rarely made cross atlantic calls.
"If I were on duty..." said Mr. Weasley, glaring angrily at the amulet seller.
"Yes, but don't go arresting anyone now, dear, we're in a hurry," said Mrs. Weasley, nervously consulting a list. "I think we'd better do Madam Malkin's first, Hermione wants new dress robes, and Ron's showing much too much ankle in his school robes, and you must need new ones too, Harry, you've grown so much... come on, everyone..."
"Molly, it doesn't make sense for all of us to go to Madam Malkin's," said Mr. Weasley. "Why don't those three go with Hagrid, and we can go to Flourish and Blotts and get everyone's school-books?"
"I don't know," said Mrs. Weasley anxiously, clearly torn between a desire to finish the shopping quickly and the wish to stick together in a pack. "Hagrid, do you think...- ?"
"Don't fret, they'll be fine with me, Molly," said Hagrid soothingly, waving an airy hand the size of a dustbin lid. Mrs. Weasley did not look entirely convinced, but allowed the separation, scurrying off toward Flourish and Blotts with her husband and Ginny while Percy, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid set off for Madam Malkin's.
Percy observed that the atmosphere was tense and people took no interest in greeting each other. The shoppers stayed together in their own tightly knit groups, moving intently about their business. Nobody seemed to be shopping alone.
"Migh' be a bit of a squeeze in there with all of us," said Hagrid, stopping outside Madam Malkin's and bending down to peer through the window. "I'll stand guard outside, all right?"
So Percy, Ron, and Hermione entered the little shop together. It appeared, at first glance, to be empty, but no sooner had the door swung shut behind them, Percy heard a voice which he identified a belonging to one Draco Malfoy.
"... not a child, in case you haven't noticed, Mother. I am perfectly capable of doing my shopping alone."
There was a clucking noise and a voice that Percy concluded as that of Madam Malkin, the owner, said, "Now, dear, your mother's quite right, none of us is supposed to go wandering around on our own anymore, it's nothing to do with being a child..."
"Watch where you're sticking that pin, will you!"
Percy saw that the boy was wearing a set of dark green robes that glittered with pins around the hem and the edges of the sleeves. He strode to the mirror and examined himself; it was a few moments before he noticed Percy, Ron, and Hermione reflected over his shoulder. Percy saw his light gray eyes narrow.
"If you're wondering what the smell is, Mother, a Mudblood just walked in," said Draco Malfoy.
"I don't think there's any need for language like that!" said Madam Malkin, scurrying out from behind the clothes rack holding a tape measure and a wand. "And I don't want wands drawn in my shop either!" she added hastily, for a glance toward the door had shown her Ron standing there with his wands out and pointing at Malfoy. Hermione, who was standing slightly behind him, whispered, "No, don't, honestly, it's not worth it."
"Yeah, like you'd dare do magic out of school," sneered Malfoy.
Percy had no love lost for fools and no matter how much information this boy was capable of imparting Percy was not in the mood for any sort of verbal manipulation, also he knew that with Ron present he will need to be very creative. Times like these were when he missed his friends the most. They were quick on the up take and could be creative with words. But for Percy both Ron and Hermione lacked such ability. One would rush into things head first the other would want to go to an authority figure first. Hermione broke rules but only when she was convinced that all other venues were exhausted. Making witty remarks and getting information from Malfoy would be hindered by both the friends of Harry Potter. Percy did not waste another second he raised his left arm pointing the index finger upwards he called forth peristrefo. He immediately asked it to manipulate the mist and send Malfoy family on its way. And made them all believe that they had insulted each other to their hearts content.
The robes were something which Percy thought even the most fashion blind person would not wear. They mostly resembled night gown or that is what Percy held them to be. He would have been happy with just a good pair of trousers with a dress shirt and a slim fit suit, may be even a tie to go with it but the zygons insisted on wearing robes. The robes were ridicules and Percy voiced his opinion but got no support from Harry Potter's two friends, also he saw that the seamstress did not look stoked by his comments. Percy had observed in the videos that the zygons preferred to wear robes. Only the so called radical thinker's children wore latest fashion cloths. Most of the zygon which included even the teens seemed to prefer robes. The first generations did go with their usual cloths but as they grew older and once they had completed their schooling in the zygon school they start to embrace the zygon fashion of wearing robes. The zgons in general looked down upon those who embraced modern clothing and ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. The shopping for robes finally completed they got out meeting Hagrid,
"Got ev'rything?" asked Hagrid brightly when they reappeared at his side.
Just about," said Ron. "Did you see the Malfoys?"
"Yeah," said Hagrid, unconcerned. "Bu they wouldn... dare make trouble in the middle o' Diagon Alley, Ron. Don' worry about them."
Percy, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks, but before Percy could disabuse Hagrid of this comfortable notion, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny appeared all clutching heavy packages of books.
"Everyone all right?" said Mrs. Weasley. "Got your robes? Right then, we can pop in at the Apothecary and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George's... stick close, now..."
Ron did not buy any ingredients at the Apothecary, seeing that he was no longer studying Potions, but he along with Percy bought large boxes of owl nuts for Hedwig and Pigwidgeon at Eeylops Owl Emporium. Then, with Mrs. Weasley checking her watch every minute or so, they headed farther along the street in search of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop run by Fred and George.
"We really haven't got too long," Mrs. Weasley said. "So we'll just have a quick look around and then back to the car. We must be close, that's number ninety-two... ninety-four..."
"Whoa," said Ron, stopping in his tracks.
Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop Fronts around them, Fred and Georges windows hit the eye like a firework display. Casual passersby were looking back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few rather stunned-looking people had actually come to a halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced, and shrieked; Percy's demigod eyes began to water just looking at it. These people needed coloring advice. The right-hand window was covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:
WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT
YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT
U-NO-POO-
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION
THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!
Percy started to laugh. The twins, they needed some help in many departments when it came to true pranking. The Weasley twins had nothing on Stoll brothers but did just fine for zygons.. Percy heard a weak sort of moan beside him and looked around to see Mrs. Weasley gazing, dumbfounded, at the poster. Her lips moved silently, mouthing the name "UNo-Poo. They'll be murdered in their beds!" she whispered.
"No they won't!" said Ron, who, like Percy, was laughing. "This is brilliant!"
Percy allowed Ron to lead the way into the was packed with customers. Percy observed his surroundings once again there was lack of exits. Some things were common with the zygon structures. They had only one or two entrance/exit. They lacked exits which you would find in modern day buildings.
The merchandises were getting sold like hot pan cakes. Percy stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling. His knowledge about twins was limited to what was there in the videos but he had to say he was impressed at their work. There were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Percy noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck, and boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties. A space cleared in the crowd, and Harry pushed his way toward the counter, where a gaggle of delighted ten-year-olds was watching a tiny little wooden man slowly ascending the steps to a real set of gallows, both perched on a box that read: Reusable hangman - spell it or he'll swing!
"Patented Daydream Charms"
Hermione had managed to squeeze through to a large display near the counter and was reading the information on the back of a box bearing a highly colored picture of a handsome youth and a swooning girl who were standing on the deck of a pirate ship.
"One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable (side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling). Not for sale to under-sixteens.
"You know," said Hermione, looking up at Percy, "that really is extraordinary magic!"
"For that, Hermione," said a voice behind them, "you can have one for free."
A beaming Fred stood before them, wearing a set of magenta robes that clashed magnificently with his flaming hair.
"How are you, Harry?" They shook hands.
"Come on, Harry, I'll give you a tour."
Percy left Hermione followed Fred toward the back of the shop, where he saw a stand of card and rope tricks.
"Muggle magic tricks!" said Fred happily, pointing them out. "For freaks like Dad, you know, who love Muggle stuff. It's not a big earner, but we do fairly steady business, they're great novelties... Oh, here's George..."
Fred's twin shook Percy's hand energetically.
"Giving him the tour? Come through the back, Harry, that's where we're making the real money...pocket anything, you, and you'll pay in more than Galleons!" he added warningly to a small boy who hastily whipped his hand out of the tub labeled: EDIBLE DARK MARKS-THEY'LL MAKE ANYONE SICK! George pushed back a curtain beside the mon magical tricks and Percy saw a darker, less crowded room. The packaging on the products lining these shelves was more subdued.
"We've just developed this more serious line," said Fred. "Funny how it happened..."
"You wouldn't believe how many people, even people who work at the Ministry, can't do a decent Shield Charm," said George. "'Course, they didn't have you teaching them, Harry."
"That's right... Well, we thought Shield Hats were a bit of a laugh you know, challenge your mate to jinx you while wearing it and watch his face when the jinx just bounces off. But the Ministry bought five hundred for its entire support staff! And we're still getting massive orders!"
"So we've expanded into a range of Shield Cloaks, Shield Gloves..."
"... I mean, they wouldn't help much against the Unforgivable Curses, but for minor to moderate hexes or jinxes..."
"And then we thought we'd get into the whole area of Defense Against the Dark Arts, because it's such a money spinner," continued George enthusiastically. "This is cool. Look, Instant Darkness Powder, we're importing it from Peru. Handy if you want to make a quick escape."
"And our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the shelves, look," said Fred, pointing at a number of weird-looking black horn-type objects that were indeed attempting to scurry out of sight. "You just drop one surreptitiously and it'll run off and make a nice loud noise out of sight, giving you a diversion if you need one.
"Handy," said Percy, impressed.
"Here," said George, catching a couple and throwing them to Percy.
A young girl with short blonde hair poked her head around the curtain; Percry saw that she too was wearing magenta staff robes.
"There's a customer out here looking for a joke cauldron, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley," she said.
"Right you are, Verity, I'm coming," said George promptly. "Harry, you help yourself to anything you want, all right? No charge."
"I can't be seen doing that!" said Percy, who had already pulled out the money bag to pay for the Decoy Detonators.
"You don't pay here," said Fred firmly, waving away Percy's gold.
"But..."
"You gave us our start-up loan, we haven't forgotten," said George sternly "Take whatever you like, and just remember to tell people where you got it, if they ask."
George swept off through the curtain to help with the customers, and Fred led Percy back into the main part of the shop to find Hermione and Ginny still poring over the Patented Daydream Charms.
"Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet?" asked Fred. "Follow me, ladies..."
Near the window was an array of violently pink products around which a cluster of excited girls was giggling enthusiastically. Hermione and Ginny both hung back, looking wary.
"There you go," said Fred proudly. "Best range of love potions you'll find anywhere Ginny raised an eyebrow skeptically."Do they work?" she asked.
"Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a time depending on the weight of the boy in question..."
"... and the attractiveness of the girl," said George, reappearing suddenly at their side. "But we're not selling them to our sister," he added, becoming suddenly stern, "not when she's already got about five boys on the go from what we've..."
"Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie," said Ginny calmly, leaning forward to take a small pink pot off the shelf. "What's this?"
"Guaranteed ten-second pimple vanisher," said Fred. "Excellent on everything from boils to blackheads, but don't change the subject. Are you or are you not currently going out with a boy called Dean Thomas?"
"Yes, I am," said Ginny. "And last time I looked, he was definitely one boy, not five. What are those?"
She was pointing at a number of round balls of fluff in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the bottom of a cage and emitting high-pitched squeaks.
"Pygmy Puffs," said George. "Miniature puffskeins, we can't breed them fast enough. So what about Michael Corner?"
"I dumped him, he was a bad loser," said Ginny, putting a finger through the bars of the cage and watching the Pygmy Puffs crowd around it. "They're really cute!"
"They're fairly cuddly, yes," conceded Fred. "But you're moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren't you?"
Ginny turned to look at him, her hands on her hips. There was such a Mrs. Weasley-ish glare on her face that Percy was surprised Fred didn't recoil.
"It's none of your business. And I'll thank you'' she added angrily to Ron, who had just appeared at George's elbow, laden with merchandise, "not to tell tales about me to these two!"
"That's three Galleons, nine Sickles, and a Knut," said Fred, examining the many boxes in Ron's arms. "Cough up."
"I'm your brother!"
"And that's our stuff you're nicking. Three Galleons, nine Sickles. I'll knock off the Knut."
"But I haven't got three Galleons, nine Sickles!" "You'd better put it back then, and mind you put it on the right shelves."
Ron dropped several boxes, swore, and made a rude hand gesture at Fred that was unfortunately spotted by Mrs. Weasley, who had chosen that moment to appear.
"If I see you do that again I'll jinx your fingers together," she said sharply.
"Mum, can I have a Pygmy Puff?" said Ginny at once.
"A what?" said Mrs. Weasley warily.
"Look, they're so sweet..."
Mrs. Weasley moved aside to look at the Pygmy Puffs, and Percy saw a girl standing right outside the window and staring right at him. Her expression was hungry, hungry as in 'I will eat you for dinner' hungry and not 'I want you sexually' hungry. Percy momentarily saw forked tongue sticking out from her mouth.
"Wonder where his mummy is?" Percy heard Ron say. Percy turned to look at him weirdly which the red head completely missed as he continued "looks like he gave her a slip."
"Why, though?" said Hermione.
"What are you two talking about?" Percy asked the two puzzled.
"Didn't you see Harry? Malfoy was all alone and was going to Merlin know where."
Percy looked towards the window the monster was still there, still staring at him in hunger. It wouldn't take it long to catch his scent completely and come after him. The shop was crowded and allowing the monster to come anywhere close to such a crowd with the type of merchandise around would be a disaster, Percy glanced around. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were bending over the Pygmy Puffs. Mr. Weasley was delightedly examining a pack of Muggle marked playing cards. Fred and George were both helping customers. On the other side of the glass a bit far away, Hagrid was standing with his back to them, looking up and down the street. Percy needed to get the monster away. Ron and Hermione couldn't see through the mist so naturally they would see a normal girl window shopping. The two were discussing the Malfoy kid. Percy made a quick decision.
"Guys, I would like to discuss Malfoy with you, but I need to get to the loo, it's very urgent."
Percy saw that when Ron was convinced Hermione looked to be in doubt.
"I'll right back." Percy quickly moved in the direction of the loo, swiftly retrieved and put on the invisibility cloak. He got out of the shop and observed that the monster had followed his scent. He led the monster to a nearby empty shop with the intention of ending it the moment it got in. but to Percy's surprise the monster was quick and it slammed him from behind sending Percy flying towards the opposite wall.
"Well, well, a demigodsssss," the dragon lady said, "didn't exsspect one here."
Percy recovered quickly and got his feet and pulled out riptide and uncapped it. Three foot long bronze sword appeared in his hand. The sight of the sword, Percy saw had shocked the monster.
"The ONCOMING STORM!"
"Yes." Percy gave her a cold smile. "What gave me away?" Percy had acquired many nicknames over the years. 'The oncoming storm' though an alias taken from a tv show by a monster who was a fan of the show fit Percy quite well. If the dragon lady had known who Percy was she would have killed him the first opportunity she had got but it was usually in the ingrained attitude of the monsters to play with their prey before finishing them off.
"Treachery," snarled the drakaina, "you demigods and your tricks." She pulled out a spear out of thin air, "hiding in the foul stench of the zygons, it was impossible to smell you."
This was news to Percy, the scent of the demigods was always were alluring to the monsters. They flock towards it in search of the best desert. The fact that the zygon scent caused for the scent of a demigod of his power levels to be hidden was truly news.
"No matter I'll kill you." So saying the monster lunged at Percy who was lost in his thoughts and was a bit slow to react. The spear almost got his left shoulder but Percy moved out of the way yet it still managed to cause a gash to his left arm. Blood started flow from the wound. That truly woke Percy up. The next jab Percy dogged with ease. One swift swig of his sword the spear was cut into two. The dragon lady in her last ditch effort lunged forward with a snarl only to be cut into two showering Percy in monster dust.
Percy sighed as he looked at the gash; it was not deep but had managed to stain his shirt. Percy was fortunate that he had left his coat at the shop instead of wearing it during the fight, he quickly took of the shirt he still had his backpack with him. He drank a bit of nectar from a secured canteen and then ate a small amount of ambrosia. The wound healed somewhat but did not disappear completely, so Percy was forced to bandage it by using the first aid he had in his backpack. The backpack was a gift from Hermes as such could hold a lot of things. He had a spar shirt in it identical to the one he had been wearing which he put on. He checked and conformed that the bandage was not visible and then made his way back to the Weasley shop under the invisibility cloak. When he returned no one was wiser for he made sure to appear to have come out of the toilet.
Percy saw that Hermione and Ron were still speculating as to what Malfoy had been up to. Percy added his two cents and told them that the blonde could easily be meeting with some of his pals whom Mrs. Malfoy disapproved of. This answer mollified Hermione but did nothing to placate Ron. Finally Mrs. Weasely declared that the shopping was done and she led them all back to the flying car.
see you all next week. thank you