A/N: Hi, I'm… back? (See A/N at the end.)

POV: Percy

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own anything and neither do you.

Chapter 10

As soon as Annabeth had cut through the mist and we lost the connection to the wizards, I looked back at Dumbledore. Time to test if my hypothesis was true.

"Now, Annabeth, remember that you won't be Apparating, it should be more of like a Side-Apparition for you. Just hold on to Percy's hand but don't attempt to Apparate." She nodded, taking hold of my hand. Dumbledore stopped talking and simply nodded at me.

I closed my eyes, envisioning the exact spot I wanted to go, envisioning that when I turned on the spot, I'd be gone into nothing, and then I'd reappear there, right next to Dumbledore.

I turned.

There was a sucking sound, and suddenly I felt like I was being pushed through a very small rubber tube — was this, I thought absentmindedly, how Santa felt like when he went through those super small chimneys in The Santa Clause? — and the breath was gone from me and I was being pushed onwards, but through all of it, I held onto Annabeth's hand like the anchor it was —

And very suddenly, we were both out of the rubber tube, and I opened my eyes. To my left was Dumbledore. To my right was Annabeth. In front of me, two feet ahead, was the spot the two of us had just vacated.

Dumbledore glanced at me, his blue eyes sparkling as he smiled under that age-old beard. "Very good, Percy. Very good."

The next Sunday, Annabeth and I were up before dawn, and it was then I decided four in the morning was far too early. But as much as I wanted to stay at Camp Half-Blood, my home, for a little while longer, we needed to go back to Britain to buy our school supplies in time for the next Hogwarts school year. Plus, only two days from now was Harry's birthday, and we didn't want to miss it. Annabeth, it seemed to me, was intent on planning something special (and by special, I mean e-special-ly embarrassing).

Seeing as to how we'd be gone for almost another entire year, Chiron had made sure that we gave a small speech to console the rest of the camp, who were constantly wondering where these two war heroes were going for so long. Clarisse had glared, Travis and Connor had guffawed, the kids who were new looked on in awe, and eventually I got really tired of the whole ordeal. That was why we'd decided to wake up so early — if we wanted to avoid the masses coming to say goodbye, we'd have to leave before they woke up.

Professor Dumbledore was waiting atop the hill right on the border of Camp Half-Blood, the same one from which we'd taken the Portkey last year. This year, we'd be Apparating, and Dumbledore suggested I Apparate myself (and, well, Annabeth, after our recent discovery that it was impossible for me to Apparate without her). If I ended up in the wrong place, Dumbledore'd be with us, because he'd decided it was a good idea for me to Apparate not just me, but two other people on the side.

I took one last look at my home, with its endless strawberry fields where Annabeth and I had been at peace, before the whole wizarding war came into our lives, the Big House painted blue against the orange and pink sky, the dozens of cabins, the mess hall. Everything.

Inside, I felt part of me break, knowing that I wouldn't be here again for a long time.

Then I closed my eyes, envisioning Harry, and Ron and Hermione, and Draco.

I turned into thin air. After three long days full of Apparition practice, far from the eyes of other campers, the squeezing sensation was natural, welcome. After what seemed like a much, much longer time than normal (likely because we were travelling such a long distance), Annabeth, Dumbledore and I came out of the tube.

And landed in the middle of a table, which, unfortunately, was covered in breakfast foods. And surrounded by people, many, if not most of them redheads.

By some strange means, Annabeth and Dumbledore had managed to avoid crashing straight into the Weasley's breakfast — maybe they'd let go of a split second sooner — but here I was, having splashed oatmeal, milk and cereal everywhere.

Fred and George were the first to get up. "Excellent entrance, mate!" said one.

"Why haven't we tried that yet, Freddie?" asked George.

"I haven't got a clue, Georgie. Shall we do it?" asked Fred, holding his arm out to his twin.

George laced his arm through Fred's. "Of course, my dear brother."

Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything, the two of them popped out of existence with the loud crack that meant a lot of space had just been vacated and immediately filled with air.

I desperately hoped they hadn't crashed into somebody else's breakfast table.

My cheeks flaming, I got off the table, only to be greeted enthusiastically by Ron and Harry and Hermione, and then perhaps even Draco, as I pointed my wand at myself and muttered, "Scourgify." Most of the oatmeal, cereal and milk vanished. Dumbledore, a smile in his eyes, had already repaired the Weasley's messed up dining table.

Annabeth just looked at me knowingly, her grey eyes hiding laughter. Hey, now, not my fault, I said with my eyebrows.

She raised hers. Oh, actually entirely your fault. She giggled.

"Percy! Annabeth! How are you?" exclaimed a girl with bushy brown hair, her dark face glowing with a smile.

"Hermione!" responded Annabeth with just as much enthusiasm before going to hug her friend. Then she hugged Ginny. "I'm doing great, and you? Have O.W.L. results come yet?"

"Actually, now that you mention, I think they're due this morning." Hermione suddenly blanched. "Oh, no, what if—"

"What if what, Hermione?" cut in Draco, who had not gotten up yet from his chair. "What if you missed question one-hundred-and-eleven, part c on the Charms test?" He snorted.

"I seriously doubt it," said Harry, flashing a grin at his friend. "They don't call you the brightest witch of our age for nothing."

"Oi! I think I deserve that title!" Draco said, pointing his chin up and looking at us all down his nose. It was a rather ridiculous sight, as he had to look up, for we were all standing and he was still in his chair.

"Well, for one, Malfoy, you're not a witch," pointed out Ginny, laughing.

"And two, you're not that smart," guffawed Ron.

"No, actually, he's one of the top in our year," said Hermione, then added in a rather snotty voice, "You two, and Harry, just likely didn't notice because you were too busy hating him."

Ron's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

I looked over to the corner, where Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore were talking in hushed whispers. Soon, Mrs. Weasley yielded a small grin, reassured Dumbledore, and saw him off.

"Percy, Annabeth," he said, "it's about time I return to Hogwarts and speak to our new professor. But please, owl me if there's any need."

"Of course, professor." Annabeth smiled.

"Wait, Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said hurriedly, walking over as soon as he realized Dumbledore was about to be leaving.

The old professor looked at him patiently. "Yes, Harry?" his voice was calm.

"Er, I was wondering if you, er, were ever going to talk to me about—"

"About what I sent Dobby to tell you," Dumbledore finished. Harry nodded sheepishly. "All things in due time, Harry, all things in due time. Don't think I've forgotten; it is simply not the time yet."

Harry nodded again. Dumbledore smiled, straightened, and without another word, Disapparated from the Burrow.

Later, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Annabeth and I all decided we should cram into the boys' bedroom, seeing as to how it was perhaps the largest bedroom in the Burrow, not that it was easily accessible.

The last part was an issue, as it meant Draco had to climb many flights of stairs with what Annabeth and I learned was left of his feet. Mrs. Weasley had mumbled under her breath that they weren't fully healed yet (heeled yet, I said under my breath, only to receive nasty looks from both Hermione and Annabeth. At least Ron and Ginny laughed silently) and that "young Mister Malfoy" had no business climbing so many stairs.

Thus we compromised and instead crammed into the living room. With Fred and George gone ("at their joke shop, we've got to visit soon," Ron informed us) and Mr. Weasley at work, the Burrow was slightly less empty. I supposed Annabeth and me arriving hadn't really helped the situation.

Draco sat on a couch and propped his two feet up on a stack of very worn, very old pillows. At first, I was nervous that Ginny was still in the room — she didn't know the truth about us, now did she? — and then Annabeth consoled me. Apparently, Hermione had told Ginny quite soon after she'd found out the truth about Annabeth and Rachel and me. Ginny might be the youngest, but apparently she could hold a secret quite well.

We spent the better part of the morning catching up; now the Daily Prophet was on Harry and Dumbledore's side, saying Voldemort had been back all along and actually, why had they lied, well really it was so the people wouldn't be scared.

Hmmph, I thought to myself, sure.

While we talked, Merlin came down into the room and stately plopped himself on Annabeth's hair. She smiled, and stroked his feathers till her arm grew tired and dropped back to her side. Merlin nested in her blonde curls and soon was just a ball of black feathers sleeping atop her head.

Harry and Ron looked quite suspicious when Ginny hadn't left and Annabeth freely began talking about our world. That was, until Ginny got tired of them eyeing her and piped up, "Oh, quit it, you two. I've known about Percy and Annabeth since before you did."

Harry and Ron took a moment to look surprised, and then turned their glare to Hermione. Or Annabeth. I couldn't tell which.

The lively, carefree mood that pervaded the air was lost when Annabeth persuaded Draco to tell us about what happened at his house, why he was here. He sullenly told the story, leaving out bits and pieces that I supposed were far too painful. And he never said Voldemort's name. Not once.

I supposed maybe Draco's wounds would heal, but the scars inside would last a lifetime.

Now, he'd left his family behind, and said nothing of them except that he supposed they'd likely been killed for his disobedience to the Dark Lord. Tears pricked his eyes.

Then, Harry mentioned how they'd received a letter supposedly written by Luna, but that it seemed off and something wasn't quite right. Namely, how Luna had known about the attack at Malfoy Manor.

Annabeth and I exchanged glances. Nothing could be good about that situation.

The only break of light in the darkness that had taken over our morning was when four letters arrived, bearing news of Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione's O.W.L. exams.

"How'd you do?" Annabeth asked excitedly, surely remembering our own O.W.L.s, taken in Dumbledore's office on the first day of school. What a fond memory. I remembered my own; three Os in DADA, Transfiguration, and Potions. Only three, compared to Annabeth's seven. And total, I'd gotten seven O.W.L.s, and Annabeth nine.

"I've got seven," said Harry. "Only one O, but seven O.W.L.s is way more than I expected!"

"Blimey, mate! I've got a ton of Es, no O, but that's alright…" Ron was very enthusiastic.

"Hermione?" Annabeth asked gently. The girl was looking at her paper with a shocked, pale face, her jaw slack and mouth open.

Draco was the one who leaned over her. "Well, I'm not surprised," he said, even though his eyebrows shot up. "All Os, except for one E in Defense." His eyes scanned her paper. "Hell, Hermione, how many classes did you take?"

Hermione blushed. "A lot."

Harry scoffed. "You should've seen her third year, I thought she was going to die of sleep deprivation…"

Annabeth interrupted him, looking expectantly at Draco. "And you, how'd you do, supposedly 'brightest-wizard-of-his-age'?" Draco folded up his paper secretly, but Annabeth snatched it out of his hands. "Aha!" Her eyes, widened comically. "Oh, well. How many classes did you take, Draco?" Her lips quirked up in a smile. "An O in everything except Herbology and History of Magic."

"Less than Gra—Hermione." His ears turned pink. Harry, Ginny, and Ron's mouths all fell open.

The rest of the day, unfortunately, was spent helping Mrs. Weasley clean up the kitchen, garden, and all the rooms (Draco was the only one who did nothing at Mrs. Weasley's insistence). Soon before lunch, Mr. Weasley showed up, overworked and extremely tired from his late shift at the Ministry. He ate with all of us at lunch and then quickly fell asleep on the sofa in the living room.

By late afternoon, the garden had been de-gnomed, all the beds made, the floors and stairs swept, the cabinets and furniture dusted, and Mrs. Weasley was quite pleased. Annabeth and I had spent quite a while cleaning, Annabeth using her wand since she was already seventeen (I was bitterly doing it by hand, regretting that my birthday was in two weeks).

After it was all sparkling like new, Mrs. Weasley gave us a break and we all trooped outside to the broom shed. Ginny, Harry, and Ron grabbed brooms, and looked at me with concern. Yes, the last time I'd been on a broom I'd been shocked out of the sky. Annabeth looked at me with worry, but I shook her off.

"I'll stay close to the ground, Wise Girl. Don't worry." She worried, and eventually sent Merlin up to stay close to me while I zipped around on the broom, low to the ground. Being up in the air again was quite terrifying, but exhilarating. With Merlin flapping along next to me, I could be slightly convinced that Zeus wasn't going to try to kill me again. For the first time in a while, I let my shoulders, legs, and being relax, and soared above the green ground, thinking that, if only for a second, everything was quite all right.

A/N: So this was a filler chapter. Not too informative but actually necessary. The next chapter will have more interesting stuff.

Okay, I know it's been a while, but I've finally figured out a strategy for writing and now I think I might update slightly more regularly. Say, every one to two weeks. Reviews, as always, are very much appreciated. You know where the button is.

Last note: If you like Drarry, I wrote a two-shot called Broken that you should check out.

Thanks for reading!