There's Nothing Sweeter

Disclaimer: I don't own either 'Harry Potter' or 'Percy Jackson'. All recognisable characters, content or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Ten:

I can give you anything you've ever wanted..

Gwen woke with a muffled scream, clawed at sweat damp sheets and struggled to take in deep, heaving lungfuls of breath. Her glaze eyes were wild, her heartbeat more so, and it took the witch some time to register the fact that she was safe, on solid ground, and not falling down a deep, endless void.

Was this how Neville felt after his Voldemort dream visions?

Poor bastard.

The voice, ageless and malignant and so very, very real, echoed through her head and despite herself, Gwen was scared, more so than she'd ever been in her life.

She hated being scared.

Fear was weakness, after all, and Gwen Potter was not weak.

She hadn't been for a long time. She hadn't let herself, and she never would again.

Mostly though, she hated the fact that she had to be scared. There was something going on, something beyond her current understanding, and the witch had never been fond of being left out of the loop.

Once her heart rate had steadied, Gwen took a moment to check the time, groaned at the ungodly hour but got to her feet with a weary sigh. She'd not be getting any more sleep that night, so she might as well do something productive with the time she had to spare.

Gwen avoided thinking about her dream, tried to make sense of Professor Snape's rambling essay question, failed, and resorted to replying to her most recent letters to pass the time instead.

In the pile, she was surprised to find a letter from her godfather.

They weren't close, because Gwen held a certain resentment for the man who'd refused care of her, but she'd known Sirius Black her whole life, and a part of Gwen couldn't help love him anyway, because despite refusing her guardianship, he'd worked his bum off to make sure she grew up well. To his knowledge, anyway.

Besides, he was family, and Gwen didn't have much of that to throw around.

Disregarding that, Gwen doubted he was aware of the extent of the Dursleys abuse, because her 'relatives' had gone through great pains to make sure she never spoke of it. She'd been young enough to believe their threats, but even as she'd grown older, Gwen had made the decision never to speak of her childhood with Vernon, Petunia and Dudley.

There was no point, anyway, because they didn't dare harm a hair on her head these days, and Gwen wasn't sure how to live with Sirius, his wife, and his young children. In any case, she didn't think she wanted to, because little children were annoying, and Gwen's patience was thin enough as was.

With a shake of her head, Gwen brought herself back to the present, scanned through her godfather's letter and hummed to herself, thoughtful. Sirius had a medical conference in Manhattan on the solstice, he wanted to catch up with her while in town, and if Gwen was so inclined, could she please write back with a good time and place to meet him?

She frowned, unwilling to exit Camp Halfblood's borders. More so, she was unsure if any guests were at liberty to enter the grounds.

She would have to talk to Chiron about it, or Mr D, but as she took note of the time, the witch also knew she had to wait a few more hours to do so.

It was nearly five, the sky had just barely begun to lighten over the eastern horizon, and Gwen suppressed a yawn, tired. It would be a long day.

All the same, she'd never been one to back down from a challenge, so she dressed in her yoga pants and a tank top, donned her running shoes and braided her hair. Her summer assignments, and letters, could wait until that evening.

At breakfast, Gwen was approached by Chiron, who requested that she meet him during what should have been her Ancient Greek lesson that afternoon. She agreed and turned back to her meal, heedless of the glances that were still sent her way.

The initial fervour about the Zeus/Poseidon spat had died down, but the Athena children were still shadowing her, Lee still hadn't apologised, and Gwen still hadn't picked a side. The Hermes, Hephaestus, Demeter and Dionysus cabins had opted to remain neutral, and Gwen had spent a fair bit of time with Katie Gardener in response to that decision.

She'd also been given a baggy of some premium weed as a bonus, but that was another story.

"Why the long face?"

Gwen grunted and glared at the daughter of Demeter, but Katie was unfazed. She was one of those genuinely nice people, and Gwen sort of wondered why she reciprocated Travis' crush ten million times over, but figured it was none of her business and therefore, she had thus far not verbalised that question. Besides, douchebaggery aside, Travis was her friend, Katie was steadily becoming another one, and if being together made them both happy, than so be it.

"You know what? I think you're still grumpy that Lee's not talking to you."

"Bugger off," Gwen retorted hotly, "I don't need presumptuous wankers as friends. Wanker."

"You said wanker twice," Katie acknowledged mildly, but her smile was serene, entirely content with the opinion that she was right.

Gwen, of course, had no intention of confirming it because the witch was angry, and she had no desire to be hung up on Lee Fletcher. She hated her response to him, she hated the fact that Lee had somehow wormed his way under her skin, and she most definitely hated the fact that there was nothing she could do about it.

Damn, but Aphrodite must have been having a field day.

"Fuck you."

Katie laughed, jostled Gwen to her feet and together, they walked towards the training arena. Katie split off halfway there, her destination the strawberry fields, and Gwen continued on her way without incident.

At least until she passed by the tree line, where she was nearly bowled over by Luke.

"Bloody hell," she cursed, as the son of Hermes continued on his way without even a glance over his shoulder. She glared after him, mouth set in an unimpressed scowl. "Sorry, I didn't see you there, dick."

Eager for the day she'd be able to pulverise Luke Castellan with her sword, Gwen reached the training arena, learned from and sparred with Clarisse, and put the son of Hermes out of her mind.

"Archery next," Clarisse observed, "Are you ready for that?"

Gwen grimaced, and admitted to the daughter of Aries that she'd not even thought of it. "I'm so angry with him, anyway, I'd probably be more likely to shoot him, the git. Maybe I should skive?"

"And hide where?"

"Touche," Gwen conceded, drained the last of her water, and changed the subject, "Come on, we've got time for one more spar."

Fortunately for all those concerned, Gwen's archery lesson passed without incident. She and Lee were strictly distant with each other, but by the end of it, neither of them were sporting arrows, or hexes, or any physical damage, really. She packed away her borrowed arrows, bow and quiver, drained her drink of water and made to leave towards the training arena, but before she could, Lee's hand coiled around her bicep and Gwen stopped in her tracks, somewhat bewildered.

"Can we talk?"

Gwen gave a noncommittal shrug, expression impassive, but her heart raced and she wondered if Lee could see it.

She hoped not.

"Alright," she agreed, "Talk."

Lee fidgeted in place, Gwen crossed her arms over her chest, and Lee cleared his throat, anxious.

"Spit it out, Fletcher, I don't have all day."

"Right," Lee acknowledged, "I don't do this often, but I wanted to apologise. I was out of line the other day, assuming you didn't care, and insulting you, so for that, I'm sorry."

"Whatever," she grunted, turned on her heel and walked back the way she'd come. She had a session of being pulverised to look forward to.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" Lee called after her.

Gwen glanced over her shoulder, and met Lee's blue eyes with her own. He was stood where she'd left him, a quiver of arrows in one hand, his bow slung over a shoulder, and the other hand tangled in his hair, a nervous tick she'd only just realised he had.

She gave him a smile, expression open, and Lee caught his breath, because with strands of her hair framing her face, and green eyes bright, she was beautiful.

"I guess it does."

Author's Note: Distracted by Walking Dead, painfully dull assignments, and the misery that is referencing. Review?

I want to read/write an Avengers/Harry Potter, Hawkeye/fem!Harry story. I tried to write one, failed, but intend to try again. Interested?

Until next time, -t.