A/N:

Hello everyone! Today, for the first time, the characters will be featured in the author's notes! :D

Ice: Hey, Annabeth.

Annabeth: Yeah?

Ice: What's 83 x 59 / 73 + 42?

Annabeth: 109.0821917808219178082191

Ice: *writes something down*

Flame: Hey! You can't make Annabeth do your homework! She has stuff to do!

Annabeth: What are you, my manager?

Ice: *ignores Annabeth* Like?

Flame: *counts off on fingers* Killing monsters, sneaking into Percy's dorm-

Annabeth: Hey!

Flame: *ignores Annabeth* -doing Percy's homework for him after he begs and grovels and her feet-

Annabeth: I am so not doing Seaweed Brain's homework.

Ice: You're really going to make her do that?

Annabeth: I'm RIGHT HERE!

Flame: Nah, I'm just messing with you. And you, Annie.

Annabeth: *turns purple, eye starts twitching*

Flame: RU-

Annabeth: *catches Flame and Ice and holds dagger against their throats*

Ice: Y-you can't kill us! W-w'ere the authors!

Flame: *bows head* No, Ice. Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes.

Annabeth: Hmm. I like you. I'm gonna let you go. Wanna get him together?

Flame: Heck yeah, half-sis!

Flame & Annabeth: *grin evilly at Ice*

Ice:…I'm dead. *tries to run away, but trips into a pit of poisonous scorpions*

Flame & Annabeth: Oh, yeah! Never mess with a daughter of Athena, baby! *fist-bump*

###

We filed out of the hospital wing's office about an hour later, with our timetables, maps of the school, and trunks to put our stuff in (apparently bags were out of fashion here). Professor McGonnagall had promised to take us shopping tomorrow morning, at some Alley place. Seeing as tomorrow was Saturday and there were no classes, it wouldn't be a problem. We needed to buy uniforms, textbooks, and all the equipment we needed. Zeus knows how long we'd be here.

I, once again, being the genteman I am, carried Annabeth's trunk for her, and ended up with them blocking my face. I think she found this funny, but let me tell you, climbing up moving staircases without being able to see is no joke.

I blindly stumbled after my friends, trying my best not to trip over and to ignore Thalia's snickering. When we got to a certain point, Nico, who was leading us with the map, stopped.

"Okay, Griffindor dorm down this corridor. Percy, you coming, or...?"

"Nah," I said, my voice muffled by the trunks. "I'll go with Annabeth. See you guys later."

Beckendorf shrugged. "Suit yourself, man."

Connor wagged his finger. "Of course, Percy has to know where to sneak in at night!" Earning him a punch from Annabeth and a feeble kick from me.

"Ow," Connor whimpered.

"You're such a baby" Travis said.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am noooot!"

"Are-"

"SHUT UP!" Clarisse yelled, glaring at both the Stolls in turn.

The twins shrank back, and Nico grabbed them by the arm. "Come on!"

"Bye, Percy," Nico waved.

"See ya, Death Boy!" I called back, grinning.

I followed the Ravenclaws down the hall as best as I could. I could barely see through the big, bulky trunks, but everytime I steered off track, either Annabeth or Silena would pull me back in the right direction, while Thalia and Chris led the way with the map.

Soon we arrived before a double blue door. There was a Ravenclaw Banner above it, and a bronze bird knocker on the door. I sighed in relief and set the trunks down. Thalia put her hand on the knob and turned.

It was locked.

"Now what?" I grumbled.

The bronze bird turned its head to look at us.

"Whoa. Did that bird just move?"

The bird squawked. "For entry, a riddle you must solve."

Annabeth snorted. "Bring it."

I smiled, remembering the good 'ol Labyrinth days.

"Each morning I appear

To lie at your feet

All day I will follow

No matter how fast you run

Yet I nearly perish

In the midday sun.

What am I?"

Annabeth didn't even blink. "Your shadow."

The door swung open and Annabeth smirked. She waited until the others had gone inside, then picked up her trunk and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks for coming along, Seaweed Brain. I'll see you at breakfast?"

I grinned. "Sure, Annie."

Annabeth glared, but I could tell it was half-hearted. I smiled again and her gaze softened, and she smiled back.

"Annabeth!" Thalia called from inside. "You've got to see these bookshelves, you'll love them. Are you guys done making goo-goo eyes at eachother?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, breaking the contact. "Coming, Thalia," she called, and disappeared inside. The door swung shut behind her.

I picked up my own trunk and looked around. How was I getting back to my dorm? I sighed. The odds of me not getting lost looked pretty darn slim. Nico hadn't even given me the map. I was just about to pick a random direction and set off when I decided to check if I did have a map after all.

I opened up my trunk, and to my relief spotted a sheet of folded parchment. I took it out and unfolded it.

It was blank.

I sighed again. So much for it being a map. I folded it back again, and was about to put it back in the trunk when I noticed a smaller piece of paper tucked into the corner. I grabbed it hopefully, but it looked like just a scribble.

I squinted and tried to make out the script despite my dyslexia.

""I sober….I sucker…I sullenly swear…no, I solemnly swear…I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

And right before my eyes, the blank sheet of parchment started writing itself. Ink spread across it from inside, until the folded parchment looked almost like a brochure. The front read,

The Marauder's Map

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs

I opened it up, and was greeted with a full-scale map of the school, with all four towers and the main building displayed, and all the rooms labeled. It was a pretty big map, really, maybe double the size of your typical celeb poster.

"Score!"

Then I noticed little black dots moving around the page. There were quite a few – around 20, maybe. Only one was not moving.

As I watched, labels appeared underneath each dot. I squinted at the still one.

No, not a label. A name.

Perceus Jackson.

I scanned the rest of the map, the tower that showed the Ravenclaw common room, where there were five black dots, and all of them moving.

"No way."

The names underneath were Filius Flitwick, Chris Rodriguez, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and Silena Beuagard.

I watched, transfixed, as the Annabeth dot and the Thalia dot stopped opposite each other, then moved again after a minute.

The Annabeth dot went near a wall for a while, then moved to the corner and was still. No doubt she had picked out some book and was now reading it. I rolled my eyes. We teleport across time and space, and the first thing Annabeth does is read a book.

Go figure.

But this meant…this was incredible. I experimentally took a step forward.

The Percy dot moved a fraction of an inch.

I laughed out loud. This was impossible…but then again, so was everything else, so why not?

It was easy to get back to the Gryffindor tower with the map. I arrived outside a large portrait of a plump lady, who appeared to be wearing a cross between witch robes and a frilly dress.

I frowned at my map. If I had activated it by saying something, maybe there was a way to turn it off. I picked up the scrap that had unlocked the map, and turned it over. Sure enough, two words were printed in the same script.

"Mischief managed."

The ink on the Marauder's Map faded back to nothing, and I folded it up and stuck it in my pocket.

"Uh, can I come in?" I asked the portrait (I'd kind of gotten used to them moving by now, almost all of them on the way to the Ravenclaw tower had either waved or scowled at us.)

"Password?" She asked.

I blinked. "Whoa, you can talk?"

The lady waved an arm. "Of course, dear. Now, password, please."

"Um…"

Just then, the portrait swung open, and Beckendorf stood inside a large hole in the wall.

"Thanks, Beckendorf," I breathed in relief. "Gods know how long I'd have been standing there."

Beckendorf grinned. "No problem, Percy. Come in."

I followed him inside the hole.

"By the way," he added, once the portrait had swung shut again, "The password's fluxeltongue."

~o~

The common room was red-carpeted, cozy and warm. A fire burned in the hearth, and I could have sworn I saw the silhouette of a girl sitting before the flames, tending the fire. She winked at me, but when I looked back she was gone. Arm chairs were scattered around, end tables next to them. Some had chess sets, and others were empty. An old fashioned candle-chandelier lit up the room with a friendly, yellow glow. There were two staircases at either side of the room that I guessed led up to the dorms. In all, it was about six times the size of your typical classroom.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Beckendorf.

"Up in the dorms, claiming beds. Four beds per dorm room. I think Tyson saved you a bunk."

I grinned. "Thanks, Beckendorf. It's great to have you back, man."

"It's great to be back."

I started up the left staircase, but Beckendorf grabbed my arm.

"The other one. This one leads to the girl's dorms."

I blushed slightly. "Oh. Right."

Beckendorf led me to the dorm room that the others were in, and I set down my trunk.

"Home sweet home," I sighed.

"For a while," Nico agreed. He was on the top of the right bunk, unpacking his stuff.

"Nico and Tyson are on the right bunk," Beckendorf explained, "and you and me are in the left one. Connor and Travis and with two other boys from the school. Fred and George, I think their names were. Twins too, apparently."

"Cool." It was nice to know we had some friends in this weird place, at least.

"You want up or down?" Beckendorf asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm fine with either."

"Then I'll take top." He patted me on the back. "Take of your bag, man, invincible or not your back's gonna break."

I shrugged off my sports bag and dumped it on my bed. I hadn't even realized I was still carrying it. I dragged my trunk over to the side of my bunk, and began unpacking.

I pulled out a few t-shirts and jeans, a spare pair of sneakers, some underwear, and dumped it messily at the bottom of the trunk. On top I put my nectar and ambrosia, Ziploc bag of mortal cash, pouch of drachmas, a prism for sending Iris messages, and all my other stuff. I stuffed the sports bag behind it and stood, stretching. All my things took up barely a quarter of the trunk.

"Hey, Perce,"

I turned to see Nico leaning against the bedpost.

"The three of us are going to explore the castle. Wanna come with?"

I crashed back on my bed. "Nah, you guys go ahead. I'm kind of tired."

Nico shrugged. "'Kay. See you later."

I closed my eyes, and after a minute heard the door swing open then shut again as the other guys left. The Curse of Achilles tired me out, and it had been one heck of a long day. Had this morning really been sports day? It seemed like weeks ago. I lay still for a while, listening to the muted sounds of people shuffling around in the dorms above us, but wasn't settled enough to fall asleep. Instead, I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out the Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

I grinned as ink spread through the parchment, and unfolded it, scanning the page quickly.

I watched as the Beckendorf, Nico, and Tyson dots were joined by the Travis and Connor ones, along with two others labeled Fred and George. That was new. Maybe dots joined the map when I knew about them or something.

The dots gathered near the Great Hall – the same place we had dinner, then moved on to explore. Fred and George led the way – they had probably offered to give a tour. The Tyson dot broke away after a bit and moved towards the kitchen. I almost laughed, imagining him giving the poor cooks a shock when he appeared, 7 foot tall, and asked for peanut butter.

I was just about to put the map down when I spotted something unusual. Right in the dorm where I was, barely an inch away from the Percy dot, was another.

My eyes widened.

As if on cue, a voice sounded in my ear.

"Boo."

I yelped and fell off my bed, landing face-first on the floor. My girlfriend's melodic laughter filled the room, but when I scrambled to my feet she was nowhere to be seen.

"OK, Annabeth, you had your fun. Can you take the hat off so I can actually see you?" I asked, looking at where thought Annabeth was.

"Nah," her voice whispered in my ear. "You're cute when you're confused."

I made a wild grab for her, but fell short and face-planted again, earning another round of laughter.

"C'mon!" I protested, and in response got flicked in the back of my head.

"Ow!"

"Wimp. It doesn't even hurt."

"It's a blow to my ego."

I could practically hear her eyes roll.

"So now not only is your head made of kelp, it's a huge, inflated head made of kelp."

I pretended to think for a while. "Yeah, pretty much."

She punched me in the arm.

"Hah. Doesn't hurt." I smirked.

Just like before, I could almost see that evil grin forming on her face, even though she was invisible.

Damn.

And all of a sudden she was close. Very, very close. I could feel her breath against my cheek and her forehead touching mine. It was kind of weird, seeing as I couldn't see anything, but I didn't really care, seeing as my brain slowly stopped working.

"Uh gah?"

"Yeah," she agreed, locking her hands around my neck. "I think so too."

And just when I was about to kiss her, she was gone.

"Annabeth!" I whined, probably sounding like a five-year old. "No fair!"

"Who said I had to be fair?"

"I hate you," I grumbled, turning to face the wall.

"I know."

Then she was kissing me, and I was hit with the now-familiar sensation of my brain melting through my body.

When we pulled apart she laughed, probably from the expression on my face. I stood there dazed for a few seconds, before focusing again.

She had finally taken off the Yankees hat, and was holding it in one hand, a smug look on her face, arms folded.

"I win."

I shrugged. "It was worth losing."

"See? You're not always dumb." She smiled and kissed my nose, then disappeared faster than you could say 'Athena'.

I shook my head and laughed, crashing back onto my bed and wriggling under the blanket.

"'Night Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy."

"How'd you get the password anyway?"

"I'm a daughter of Athena. I know everything. You said so yourself."

"I meant it."

There was a pause, then another short laugh. "Flattery will get you anywhere."

"Will it get me a goodnight kiss?"

I could tell she was trying not to smile. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

Her lips pressed against mine again briefly. It was chaste, but still left me with that giddy feeling like the whole world could spontaneously combust and I wouldn't even care.

"I love you, Annabeth," I said softly. The first time I'd said it was half a year ago, at prom. The moment had just seemed right…and after that I never got tired of saying it. Or hearing it back.

"I love you too, Percy." Her voice was just as soft as mine. We locked eyes, I knew even though I couldn't see her.

She kissed me one last time, then was gone. I could just tell, her presence simply vanished.

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

A/N: Yaaay! Percabeth! Some healthy fluff to make up for the lack of romance in the last chapter. This was kind of a filler, but next stop Diagon Alley! Plus I needed Percy to find the map.

Sorry it's late – my monitor decided it hated me and crashed while I was typing this up. But hopefully the long chapter (and fluff! :D) makes up for it.

Lyrics of the chapter:

If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?

-Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol