Disclaimer and warnings: refer chapter one

Chapter Ten

The trip back to Manhattan was more or less uneventful, except for two instances where they ran into a Party Pony Convention (why were they on a train station and drunk with root beer was anyone's guess) and the other where the train was almost attacked by a Nemean Lion. Luckily, the Lion was a mere cub, and hence could not catch up to it.

The entire trip took around a day and a half, bringing their total number of days on the quest to be around 6 or so.

As the four of them got out in Grand Central, Harry and Percy parted ways with Annabeth and Grover, the former claiming that he was going to his death (aka Rowena) and the later wanting to visit his mother. Harry also told Annabeth to tell Silena that he was sorry for 'not coming back early, but I heard that girls like men who come late.'

Annabeth had slapped him upside the head and told him to do it himself.

Harry got out of the cab just outside of his building when he saw something out of place. A giant, like chest-level giant black furred dog that resembled a Grim. It was in a leash, which was held by an attractive blond woman with blue eyes and a petite frame. Both had were walking along the footpath, so Harry had a side view of them both.

He knew that this dog was different; his earliest memories involved him playing with the fur of a similar dog. If his suspicion was correct, then this dog was an animagus.

The animagus form of his godfather, Sirius Black.

Luckily for Harry, Rowena had taught him to detect an animagus with a subtle spell of her own creation. The target didn't even know that the fact that they were an animagus was revealed. Unlike the widely used one, which forcefully induced an animal to human transformation, this one only made the target gain a soft blue glow if target was an animagus.

Nothing happened if the target was not an animagus.

Harry cast the spell discreetly, and he was right in his suspicion. The dog had a soft blue glow around him that disappeared within a second. Harry sighed; his godfather was an idiot.

Sirius Black was quite happy. Diane, the woman helping him, had finally finished the portkey, and they had used it immediately, not caring if it would fail or not.

But they were distracted by the intense making out while the portkey was accidentally activated.

They had landed in Central Park, and Sirius had immediately transformed into his animagus form. Diane had then put a leash on him, stating that it would look more natural. Sirius knew otherwise; his new... sort of friend-with-benefits was quite kinky.

They began walking around, apparating here and there sometimes when no one was looking, and had finally come near a residential area not far from where they landed, that screamed rich people live here.

And that was when it went downhill.

Diane suddenly dropped his leash, and began walking like he didn't exist. Then, he was covered in some silvery cloth and knew that he was being dragged. Fearing for the worst, that he had been recognized, Sirius tried to break free, but found himself knocked out.

Harry grunted as he dragged his godfather, wrapped in his Invisibility Cloak, into his home. The woman he was with had been hit with a tracking charm as well as confounding charm, so no real harm done there. He had to knock out Sirius; he would have spoiled the Cloak's elasticity.

He entered his home, to find out that it was empty.

"Where's sis?" He asked.

"Lady Hecate called her for the monthly report," Helga answered, as she noticed that Harry was unwrapping something from his Cloak. It was a dog. He set the dog on the sofa, while taking a seat on the opposite chair.

"You know how she gets when you bring strays into the house," Helga said. She knew that Rowena was already angry at Harry, and this would simply make her more angry.

"Not a stray per se," Harry replied as he ennervated Sirius. "An animagus. Sirius Black, you know, my godfather."

"I will make myself scarce, then," Helga disappeared to... somewhere within the house just as Sirius woke up.

He (still in dog form) looked around the obviously Ravenclaw themed penthouse, before settling his eyes on Harry.

"I know who you are. Just transform. We need to talk."

Sirius transformed into his human form. He looked like... a long haired Gary Oldman? Harry wondered if the two were distantly, like very distantly related. Sirius had a very surprised expression on his face. "You knew my animagus form? And you are not trying to kill me?"

Harry raised a brow. "I have an eidetic memory - I remember everything. And why would I want to kill you?"

"Because the world believes I betrayed your parents."

"Did you?"

"No!" Sirius replied angrily.

"Then that settles that."

"You believe me?" Sirius was happy. Extremely so. But he was forgetting something. Or someone. "Wait where's Diane?"

"Don't worry. She's just taking a nice stroll around the block. And my mom had a diary that explained everything."

"Eh, Lily hexed anyone who called it a diary. It was always a journal. But why would you have it?"

Harry sighed. How to tell a moral that it was a god that brought the belongings of his parents to him? He had to think of –

"Did your godly mother bring it for you?"

Harry stared at the British wizard in disbelief.

"Your father told me about the circumstances of your birth."

Harry thanked his father mentally for solving one of his problems, and replied with a yes. Not that Athena had brought him their belongings, but Sirius did not need to know who really brought them. It might just give away who is the owner of this house, which would cause said owner to get creative in her punishment.

Harry would join Grover's flying shoes that were partying in Tartarus before he would let Rowena get creative.

Wait. Keeping the Founders a secret.

"BITCHES COWER BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE ALMIGHTY SALAZAR SLYTHERIN!"

Yep. He was screwed.

Salazar never really cared for the hiding part, and loved to give out secrets. For a price, of course, but a portrait does not need money. So, he settled on the priceless looks instead. This was why Rowena always put him in stasis when they had guests, but totally worth it.

Harry swore under his breath. He was more dead than he already was. Funny. Hades wanted him out of Underworld, and Rowena would probably send him back.

And how did Salazar get past the censoring rune?

A lengthy explanation later...

"So, you were raised by Rowena Ravenclaw, and grew up around the Founders," Sirius said in disbelief. "Lucky..."

Harry shook his head tiredly.

"Oi, you're a Black right?" Salazar asked out of the blue.

Sirius, who still had a hard time believing that Salazar was not the man he was portrayed as, replied with a nod.

"I had my first anal with a Black. She was a kinky woman, too."

"I see... Wait, what?"

Rowena wanted to rip her hair out. The entire time she was out with Hecate, who wanted to meet her at a local baseball game (her daughter, Lou Ellen, was playing), the titaness/goddess had nothing but asked about Harry.

In any other circumstance, where her brother was not acting like Godric, she would have been extremely proud of him. She still was, don't get her wrong, but it was mostly overwhelmed by her worry.

As she drove back to her penthouse, she wondered whether he was back yet. And as to why she was driving rather than apparating, there was a reason why she had bought an Audi. She loved driving. Not that it mattered environmentally, the car was literally zero emission as it ran on magical energy battery.

When she neared the door of her house, she noticed the rug had been dampened, and it looked like someone had dragged something inside. There was only one other person who could enter her house and not activate the security wards (not counting gods).

At least he had the bravery to come back.

Of course, she was not expecting her brother covering his face with his palm, something he did when he was extremely exasperated, and a long haired, tall, pale skinned man and Salazar exchanging their sexcapades.

Rowena cleared her throat, stopping all conversation.

Harry and Sirius both gulped for different reasons. Harry because now he would be screwed, and Sirius because he was sitting in front of the Rowena Ravenclaw. Salazar, meanwhile, had hooked on to the Internet via the rune. What was he doing? You guessed right: porn.

"Glad to see you are back. With Sirius Black it seems."

Another explanation later

Rowena had kicked out Sirius out of her house (after making him swear on the Styx to not reveal anything about her and Harry) and told him to come back later. When he asked when later was, Rowena had simply replied that it was after sooner. It was rude, yes, but she needed to discipline her brother. Harry had told his godfather to go to a hotel – no one here would expect who he was, and even Rowena was kind enough to provide him with Mist-aided false identity.

As soon as he had left, Rowena had chewed Harry out for not informing her. To escape from the situation, Harry had did what every teenager did: shift the blame. He had argued that Camp Rules stated that he only needed to ask Chiron, and the centaur had agreed. He should have told her, yes, but he couldn't just let Percy go on the quest all alone, mostly because he fit the Poseidon stereotype except for the whole playboy thing.

In the end, and after Harry accidentally revealed that they had fought Medusa (that had led to another argument), Rowena had allowed him to go to Camp. Well, technically Godric had after he heard the argument, and Harry had bolted out the door after the angry daughter of Athena said otherwise.

Harry did come back a minute later. He had forgotten his backpack.

And that was when the entire drama ended, with the two siblings having a heart-to-heart talk. It was decided that Harry would not do anything risky (by Rowena's perspective; and that meant anything from him going to the supermarket to fighting a god depending on her mood) without consulting her first. And Rowena would not do anything (much) if she was informed.

Basically it reverted to their previous status quo about him going on quests.

The tender moment was then ruined by Salazar who groaned loudly, explaining that if he couldn't 'play with his snake' he might as well act like it.

And that had sent the siblings into another argument because Harry was the one who came up with the Internet rune.

Oh well, at least he was not grounded. But it was decided that he would go to Camp a day later; Percy had called Harry via IM (apparently Sally knew how) to inform him that Percy was going to Camp the next day, and it would be nice to have company. Percy had also petrified his stepfather (quite literally). Harry had told him to burn Medusa's head after that.

The next day, Harry and Percy had met up at Grand Central, because that is where Percy's mother worked and it would be easier for Percy. Sally had dropped them both to Camp shortly after a really awkward thanking session.

In Camp, Chiron had welcomed them both with much applause.

"Welcome back, heroes! Lord Zeus has informed me about everything! Congratulations to your achievements and may you be true heroes till the very end!"

"Way to bolster up our egos!" Harry grinned at the centaur.

"At least you have not changed..." Chiron said dryly. "Percy, a word please," Chiron took Percy inside the Big House. Harry knew why; it was sort of counselling after the first quest.

But he had bigger problems. Like a black haired, blue eyed, extremely attractive with nice... were they that big or did they grow in the past week? What? He was a teenaged boy. He was allowed to show some perversion. As long as he kept it under control.

Yep, Silena was angry.

"Oh, hey, Silena! I was just–"

SLAP!

"OW!"

"That was for not calling me in the past week!" Silena growled at him.

Ignoring that she looked downright beautiful even when angry, Harry responded with a well thought answer: "Uhhh..."

Well he was confused. A year ago he went to a trip with Rowena to see various Civil War battle sites, and that took about a week and a half, and he had not called Silena during that time either. So why would she be angry with him if he was gone for six days?

Probably because he was constantly in danger, Harry realized. And was that a lilac scented perfume? Her vanilla scented one was better. Harry also realized that she was wearing her hair differently. Before she just let it cascade down in a wavy fashion to her mid back. Now she had made them straight, with a bang on the side of her face.

It looked really good on her.

Silena had also put on a hint of a lipstick. Only if he had enough guts to lean forwards and kiss her... While she was ranting at him.

He was staring, wasn't he?

Harry grunted as Silena suddenly wrapped him in a hug, pressing her slender body against him. He was surprised, yes, but he hugged her back nonetheless.

"I worried you a bit too much, didn't I?" Harry said softly.

"You have no idea," Silena mumbled. She was quite worried, and feared the worst when he didn't return with Annabeth and Grover. She had almost cried when Annabeth told Chiron that Harry had gone to his death before realizing that Harry's influence on the otherwise take-no-nonsense sort of a girl was a bit too much.

And couldn't he at least notice for once that Silena had spent a good 2 hours dolling herself up for him?

"Silena, what happened to your vanilla scented perfume?"

"Nothing, why?" Silena inwardly giggled a bit. He was finally going to admit that –

"Lilac doesn't suit you so much..."

Silena broke free from the hug, and fixed him with a pointed glare. "I spent two... two hours coming up with this get up, and all you say is that lilac doesn't suit me?"

Quick to rectify the situation, Harry replied, "But that hairstyle is awesome!"

Silena thought about her options before replying. One, she could do what her sisters would've done: blush and giggle, and steal a kiss or two. Or, she could play hard to get and hopefully Harry proposes to her romantically.

Option two sounded much better. "Hmph. Its going to take a lot more than that to make me forgive you."

"Like what?"

Before she could reply, they were driven away by Mr. D, who came out of the Big House to... sleep on his chair.

(June 21, 2005, Olympus Throne Room)

Harry, Annabeth, Percy and Grover stood in front of the 11 Olympians plus Hestia, all of them (including the demigods) dressed up in Ancient Greek clothing. Harry did not know why they were being made to wear such archaic clothing, but he knew if Annabeth wore the same type of clothing in about 3 years, he would not have let her leave the room.

After they had met after the quest, it had taken Harry three days and a shopping 'not-a-date' date to get back in Silena's good graces. Currently, she was moping about the fact that Chiron had not allowed her to go along with the four.

There was also a rising tension between them and Ares's children. Harry, Annabeth and Percy had humiliated the god, and most of them (not counting Clarisse) felt that somehow they were responsible for Ares's punishment.

Harry was getting bored as Zeus dragged on with his speech about how excellently the heroes had done the quest. From the corner of his eye, he could see a beautiful woman with the exact hair and eyes as himself fix him with a disapproving glare.

I don't care what you say, mom, but that speech is more monotonous than a NaCl crystal. And more boring than a periodic table reciting session.

Then at least pretend to be attentive.

...Or we could talk, right under His nose.

I think he would notice.

Nah, he would not expect you of all the gods to break the rules right under his nose. In fact, he is paying more attention to Hermes and Apollo than ourselves.

...true. I expect you have questions.

None, actually.

There was a brief pause as Athena took that in. Harry elaborated.

You see, the questions have already crossed —

My mind and the answers have crossed yours.

So this is what an intelligent conversation feels like... I hardly get one of those outside my home... And cabin.

Speaking of which, no, I am not going to add an AI called JARVIS.

Oh, c'mon! It would be so amazing!

Too bad. But get back to Father. He should be rewarding you right about now.

"...And thus, these valiant heroes, who have shown Olympus a great deal of honor, loyalty and courage deserve a reward!" Zeus finished his speech dramatically, and the gods applauded half heartedly. Except for Apollo. He had fallen asleep on his throne about five minutes ago.

"I declare that you all can fly in any flight, anytime, without repercussions!"

There was a small pause. But Harry knew not to complain; not many got the chance to be rewarded by Zeus. And fewer got the chance to poke fun at his choice of gifts. Harry also knew not to point out that this god had given a tree of golden apples to a woman he constantly cheated on, and had given them safe flights upon saving his Master Bolt.

Oh well, why bother complaining about something you can't change? So the four of them simply bowed and thanked the god.

"If there is no other thing left, I declare this meeting adjourned," Zeus said, and immediately Hermes, Apollo and Artemis flashed out, either because they were busy, or desperately needed female company. Hephaestus and Aphrodite were next (they went different ways, if it wasn't clear), while Demeter, Hera and Hestia simply walked out.

"A small something that I need to bring to your attention, Lord Zeus," Harry said as the King was about to leave.

"Oh?"

"This pertains to the thief."

Zeus was quite interested, now. Was Harry finally going to tell him the true identity of the bastard who stole his Bolt?

"You see, a theft of this size requires a rather... crooked mind."

"Are you blaming a child of Hermes?"

"Oh no, no, no. Far more older and more crooked."

Zeus's eyes widened as he took in what Harry was implying. He didn't want to believe it. But he also knew that there was no child of Athena's that simply went around placing blames on beings without any genuine reason.

Harry elaborated, "He appeared in my dream, once." Percy muttered a 'mine as well,' causing both of their parents to look at the two in worry, while Zeus was far more interested in what happened.

"He asked me to join him, land a blow to, and I quote, 'the treacherous gods'. I told him to shove his offer up the part that resembles his anus."

Despite the seriousness of the matter, the gods couldn't help but chuckle at that. Except Athena. She simply looked at Harry with a calculative, yet worried, look.

"But if he has the power to invade our dreams, I am pretty sure that he has the power to manipulate a demigod to steal your Bolt. Who knows, the demigod may actually be innocent. He is known as the Crooked One, for a reason."

Zeus was silent as he took this in. "So you think that He wanted to start a war between us?"

"No. This was a message."

Zeus raised a brow. It was Athena who elaborated. "He simply wanted our attention drawn to Him. Which is why, He orchestrated the theft. He never planned to start a war. I assume that even He has to play in accordance to the Great Prophecy."

Zeus was silent for a while. "I thank you for bringing this to my attention. But until further evidence is presented, I declare this matter closed. Dismissed."

With that, he flashed out of the Throne Room. Athena followed, and knowing full well that Poseidon wanted to talk to Percy, the other three quest takers walked out.

(Beginning of July, Rowena's House)

Harry was bored as switched through channels on the TV. Sirius was beside him. Rowena had let him stay in another apartment that she owned a few blocks away. He was staying with his now German girlfriend, Diane.

"So... How does electricity work here?" Sirius asked.

"After witnessing electricity and magic working along for nearly a week, you ask this now?" Harry raised a brow. Sirius shrugged in response.

"Idiot British wizards believe that they don't mix because of a failed experiment that was supposed to boost the power of a generator. But, they were using a defunct piece, and hence it was bound to fail."

Just as Sirius was about to reply, the door opened, and in walked Rowena with a man in a suit. He had matted brown hair and eyes of the same shade, and a stern look on his face. He was tall, and well built, but had a small, almost unnoticeable slump.

"Sirius," Rowena called out.

"Yes, Lady Rav– I mean Ms. Rivers?" Sirius corrected himself when she glared at him. Harry had stopped on one of the many sports channels, as they were showing an El Classico. He was a Barcelona fan, but the match was a rerun of the one that took place in April. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. He had come back from Camp for Sirius's trial in an ICW court.

Which was why the man had come. He was a lawyer.

Harry half-heartedly listened to Rowena as she explained the trial to Sirius. He was being tried in an ICW court as the twelve mundanes that died were International tourists. It was a bare faced lie, yes, and disrespectful to their dead souls, but they needed a reason to prove his innocence in an ICW court without roping in Diane into the matter.

Otherwise Sirius would simply be tried in an ICW court for smuggling himself into the US.

(After the Trial, England)

The entire magical population of England was in an uproar. The reason? Well:

SIRIUS BLACK, INNOCENT?

By Nicholas Maybly

That's right, my readers. Just a week ago, Sirius Black was captured in the United States of America and was tried in an ICW court after the British government not only failed to deliver the details of his trial, but also of his incarceration. The results, were quite shocking.

Sirius Black is the godfather of our long lost hero, Harry Potter. Not only that, but he was the decoy for Lord and Lady Potter. The true secret keeper was...

The article went on to explain how Peter Pettigrew had faked his death and killed twelve tourists. It also explained that Lord Black would be taking his seat on the Wizengamot starting the next session.

The immediate effect of this development was that Fudge was able to save his seat by declaring that it was Dumbledore's and Crouch's fault, and not his own. He went on to say that it was Dumbledore who suggested that Fudge should get dementors out to search for the now innocent Sirius Black.

But Dumbledore found himself losing his status as Supreme Mugwump of Britain and it was possible that he be voted out as Chief Warlock. But he still had enough supporters to endure the next term at the very least. He did wonder why Sirius went to US of all places, but figured that US provided him asylum after the wizard ran into one of their embassies. A far fetched notion, but the only plausible one according to Dumbledore.

Meanwhile, the Malfoys were worried. Lucius knew that Sirius hated, no, despised him. He also knew how important it was to gain the favour of Sirius Black. He was not only wrongfully imprisoned, but also the godfather of the Potter Heir. This meant that Sirius controlled not only his own seat, but also of the Potter's.

Sirius Black now held four of the eleven Most Ancient and Most Noble seats, if the Potters controlled three (their own along with Peverell and Gryffindor). This made him the most (politically) powerful man in Wizarding Britain.

Back at Camp, Harry had taken to watching his two suspects, Chris and Luke, with utmost care. Not that the two knew, of course. The couldn't even use the toilet without Harry noticing it. He felt a bit guilty for spying on his friends, yes, but it was necessary.

And for once, he hoped that he was wrong.

He was also worried about the betrayal line from the prophecy. Well, he had been betrayed by Annie when she turned on him and complained to Silena that he hadn't even touched his summer homework.

But he was sure that the prophecy did not mean that.

If the prophecy meant that someone would betray Percy, then Harry had, in a way, done so. How? Well...

Flashback to two days after Summer Solstice.

"Sup, Becky!" Harry called as he walked in the Forge.

Beckendorf didn't even look up at Harry as said in annoyance, "How many times have I told you not to call me that? And when are you going to stop?"

"3422 times, and I'll stop once it stops getting fun. So what you working on? "

" A jetpack," the son of Hephaestus said proudly.

Harry looked at the creation with the ever present calculative gaze of a typical child of Athena. "Too straight wings, and exetreme bulk at the centre. The center of gravity will be heavily displaced once, and if it flies. Not to mention, there would be zero maneuverability as the wing design does not account for the Bernoulli Principle."

Beckendorf scowled. "It will fly."

"No. It won't."

"Wanna bet?"

"Ten drachmas. You're on."

"But how do we test it?"

"I know how." Harry grinned.

Ten minutes later...

"Is this thing safe?" Percy asked as he was (forcefully) strapped into the jetpack.

End flashback.

Percy had been launched backwards and landed in the canoe lake, luckily. But it was quite hilarious and Beckendorf had paid him ten drachmas as well as a punch. But that was betrayal in its loosest possible definition, and definitely not what the prophecy was referring to.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Hedwig, who hooted frantically at him. Harry nodded back, and ran in the opposite direction.

Silena was still hunting him down so she could 'coax' him to complete his homework. Harry knew better; Silena wanted to stop him from using his laziness as a tool and hence he would be forced to do the entire thing rather than find shortcuts to complete it.

And here was the third betrayal. Harry was tripped by Beckendorf, who happened to be there.

"Here he is, Silena!"

"Becky, why?!" Harry groaned. "You Traitor!"

"'Cause you called me Becky. And you dissed my jetpack!" Beckendorf then lost his grin as Hedwig charged at him, trying to attack him kamikaze style. He ran, the angry owl following him with a vengeance. No one hurts the Most Wise Athena's son!

Harry smiled, getting back up on his feet. "Yeah, run ya little traitor!"

A girl clearing her throat made him lose that smile.

"We are doing the homework together."

"Don't I get a say in the matter?"

"Absolutely not. We are meeting at 5 sharp near the lake. And don't play smart by going to the opposite side."

With that, Silena walked off, leaving Harry to wonder why she was angry at him if she had not done her homework herself.

She tricked me! Harryrealized with a start. While she had not done her homework, she ensured that by doing it together, I won't slack off... Kinda clever, and I fell for it harder than a tonne of mass dropped on a neutron star.

Harry chuckled. That was a trick well played.

Meanwhile, in Albania, Lord Voldemort rose to his feet in his new body. He had done the necessary ritual ahead of time. It required the blood from one of his enemies, and mudbloods were his enemies.

He stood in the forest, in the middle of his inner circle of Death Eaters. He had a few people to punish for abandoning him and break out his loyal subordinates from Azkaban, but first, he needed to know one thing.

The location of Harry Potter.

After all, the Voice in his dreams did tell him quite a few interesting things about his one and only nemesis. He did not believe any of it, but that was another story altogether.

His mother, a goddess? Please. Lily Potter was a filthy mudblood, and James Potter was even worse: a blood-traitor. Like a goddess would grant them any wish at all.

Voldemort smirked as he crucio'd Goyle just because. He would need to be patient; there was no hurry in taking over the world.

And as if he would let those arrogant wizards who called themselves 'Olympians' stop him.

A/N: Left you guys on a cliffhanger again! Sorry, but I couldn't resist. But this time I have no exams to worry about, so the next chapter would be out quicker.

As to Sirius's pairing, it's not final. I have not even created a personality for Diane, and it was done on a mere whim. If you want him to be paired (if at all) with someone else, please let me know. And while we are on the topic of Sirius, I realize that he has not gotten a lot of screen time this chapter. But he has a major role next major arc.

And yes, the next major arc is the one most of you are anticipating for (I hope): Harry goes to Hogwarts.

On to another concern with the main pairing of Harry/Silena, I am planning a small side arc that goes deeper into their chemistry and Silena's character before they finally get together. This is because Silena has had hardly any screentime, and her personality is not yet well developed for her to be the main female lead.

Hope you enjoyed the double update!