a/n: Summer vacation! Yes! (If you're wondering, yes, that means more updates.) Chapter warning: there might be some swearing with the f-word. Sorry.

Chapter 21

A Magical Visit

Harry Potter's life quite possibly couldn't get much weirder than this.

The maze was the most improbable thing he'd ever seen – one minute jumping across stepping stones to avoid stepping in something that looked like liquid quicksand, the next walking down the stairs through an old-fashioned wine cellar. (So old-fashioned that even the bottles were covered with a thick layer of dust.)

But what worried Harry the most, was Percy.

He kept succumbing every now and then, stumbling ungracefully on his too-tired feet, and he'd had to be pushed and pulled and half-carried by Harry so often that they'd lost count. They really needed their rest, especially considering a new monster could jump out at them at any given moment. And Boy-Who-Lived or not, Harry doubted he'd survive as much as a confrontation with a Kneazle.

They really needed their rest, but they didn't dare to actually stop. They hadn't said it out loud, but they knew the other felt the same. The elephant in the room they didn't want to acknowledge – the weight on their shoulders of the growing worry about their friends. Were they okay? Were they still together? Were they still in the maze, trapped somewhere, or worse – had they come across something they hadn't been able to defeat?

"So," Percy said dryly after almost an hour of silence, "This is kind of boring."

Harry snorted. "Please knock on wood, mate, I'd hate to see you corrected."

Obediently Percy knocked on the first patch of wood he could find – the roots of a tree sticking out from the ceiling above them – and he grinned at Harry. "You can always tell me what it's like?"

"What what's like?"

"Being a wizard?" Percy's grin widened. "I mean, it must be pretty awesome, right? Your life must be dam easy – I mean, if there hadn't been any prophecies to disrupt it."

That made Harry laugh. He isn't half wrong, either. "Being a wizard is supposed to be easy, yeah, but I've always had a knack for attracting trouble, so I can't really say my life has been uneventful. Can't complain, though. I hadn't known I was a wizard until I was eleven," Percy had almost slipped on the muddy ground, so Harry pulled him upright without even thinking about it, and he continued, "so I think I'll never be able to take magic for granted."

Percy put his hand on Harry's shoulder, leaning all his weight in it – but he was walking on his own. Harry had to admire his persistence. "I didn't know I was a demigod until I was twelve, either," Percy said, his speech speeding up due to excitement, "It was so weird, though. Like the entire world around you suddenly changed."

"Exactly!" Harry grinned. "It's like the first time you put on your glasses after not realizing you needed them."

"Yes!" Percy retracted his hand again, staring at its shaking sheepishly. "But I'd..." his voice faltered. "Never mind."

Percy was tired, but the wavering of his voice wasn't exhaustion – it was doubt. Worry. Maybe even shame. Percy looked like he had wanted to say something he shouldn't have said, yet wanted to say it badly. So Harry stopped him, turned him around, and said in a soft tone; "Perce – spill it."

Percy's gaze met Harry's for a second, as if making sure Harry wasn't kidding about his seriousness. When Harry's gaze stayed stubbornly even, Percy's mouth quirked upwards. "I never wanted to be a half-blood." He admitted quickly, as if it were a dirty secret. "I know it's supposed to be awesome, you know, being the hero of Olympus. Hades, I saved the world last summer, and I..." he cleared his throat awkwardly, "I could've been made a god."

Harry's eyes widened.

Wait, what?

"A..." It felt like something the size of a Quaffle had suddenly lodged in his throat. "A god? You?"

Percy's grin grew – but his eyes didn't cooperate. "Yeah. Long story short, there was another prophecy, for someone else, or, well, me too... anyway, the prophecy came true, and the gods granted me to be like them. But I... I couldn't take it."

Percy's hands were shaking, his cheeks were flushed red and he kept avoiding Harry's eyes – Harry had never seen him this nervous. It almost seemed like Percy was afraid someone might overhear them, someone who would laugh and ridicule Percy, or maybe someone who would punish him for thinking this way.

And for a second Harry wanted to hug him.

(He had never been the hugging type.)

Percy, oblivious about Harry's internal thoughts, kept mumbling on. "I just – at the time I thought I'd stayed mortal for Annabeth, and I think that was a pretty big reason. But.. I never even wanted to be a demigod. A half god." He breathed out. Even that seemed to be shaky. "How could I ever be a god, if I didn't even want to be this? What god would not want to be what he is?"

"Percy..." Harry took a deep breath. Emotions and making people feel better about themselves had never been his strong suit, but he tried his best to channel some of Hermione's wisdom. "There's nothing wrong with you, you know, for thinking that? I think I even get it."

"Do you?" Percy's green eyes met Harry's.

Even Harry's smile felt sad. "Maybe not. I don't think there is anyone in this entire world that knows what that feels like." Harry then pointed to his lightning scar. "Did anyone tell you how I got this?"

Percy shook his head. To his credit, he didn't look at the scar. "Zeus' blessing?"

"Zeus? That's the lightning guy, right?"

For the first time Percy's laugh sounded genuine. "Yeah, but don't call him that. He's got quite the vanity issues, and doesn't like it to be addressed as anything less than Lord Zeus, King of Olympus."

Harry felt like his eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline. (Not that that was difficult, mind, with his fringe hanging so low.) "Right. But, no. Wizards and witches can use any spell, like you've already seen, but there are three kind of curses that are forbidden by our ministry. Using them, and you face imprisonment. They're called the Unforgivable Curses."

Percy snorted, despite the seriousness. "Original."

"Says the guy who lives at Camp Half-Blood."

"Touché."

"Anyway. You have three curses, one for mind-control, one for torture – and the killing curse."

This time it was Percy's time to look shocked. "Wait – you wizards can literally kill someone using just one word?" He shook his head. "We really should not underestimate this quest."

"Yeah." Harry cleared his throat sheepishly. "Anyway.. it's unstoppable. No shield charm can block it, there's no way of reversing it once it's cast."

Percy suddenly sat down on the floor –unclear whether it was intentional or accidental. Harry sat down with him anyway, ignoring the mud sticking to his jeans. "This was an educational conversation," Percy said finally, "but is there a point to it? And what's got it to do with your scar?"

And now comes the hard part. "Well... there was a dark wizard who ruled some years ago – and he's back now, but... well, that story is just too long to tell now – and he tried to kill me when I was a baby, for some stupid reason that he believed I might thwart him if he didn't."

Percy might seem slow sometimes, or oblivious to things going on around him when he didn't care – but he was in no way stupid. His eyes narrowed immediately, and he said in a low voice, "Voldemort."

Harry didn't even ask him how he knew that – his friends and himself had slipped his names too many times not to have been noticed. "Yeah. But.. Well, it didn't work." He then pointed to his scar, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. "I don't know why, but I'm the only wizard who has had someone cast the killing curse at them and lived to tell the tale." This was the first time Harry had ever had to actually tell someone his story – everyone in the magical world already knew it – and it felt liberating. Percy was just staring at him, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration, as if he wanted to absorb every word. And Harry wasn't sure if he ever wanted to stop talking to him. "This scar is my souvenir of that encounter. So no, Perce, I might not know what it feels like being offered to be made a god – but I do know what it's like when hundreds of people try to treat you like one, and then finding it weird that you'd rather run away and scream."

That brought out a laugh in Percy – the sound echoed all across the underground hole, and for a few moments it was possible to imagine that they weren't sitting cross-legged in a deadly maze talking about things that made their entire existence improbable.

"Okay," Percy finally said, still grinning from ear to ear, "Is it weird that I'm glad that you're a weirdo, too?"

Harry lightly bumped Percy's fist, mirroring his expression. "Here's to being the worst chosen ones that have ever been chosen."

"Cheers."

Then they both stilled.

Somewhere off in the distance – too far away in the dark for them to be able to see what it had been – someone was walking. No, not walking, stomping. Loudly. And talking, too, obviously not caring who might hear him. She. It. Them?

Harry's gaze crossed Percy's.

Only a monster powerful enough to knock anyone off their path would be this careless in making so much noise.

"Shit," Percy finally muttered under his breath. "I really hate this maze."

Harry scrambled up, and pulled his friend with him. Agreeing with him felt like stating the obvious. "Get behind me."

Percy didn't argue. (Merlin, he couldn't even stand on his own two feet without falling down, he knew when to admit defeat.)

"Lumos," Harry muttered as soon as he had his wand out, and spread his legs as if preparing himself for a wizarding duel. Spells hadn't worked on the last monster – okay, fine, he hadn't even bothered trying, but he wasn't going to think about his stupidity for very long – and he wasn't sure whether magic would help at all in fighting the Greek mythical monsters.

It was in any way better than to keep relying on his sword. (He knew for a fact that that hadn't helped last time. The Cynolycus' body had seemed to be made out of bullet-proof skin, the way their weapons had kept bouncing off it.)

It was a whole lot better than to be relying on Percy's powers.

"Can you see it?" Percy whispered, his hand on Harry's shoulder. He was taller than Harry was, and was probably only leaning on him not to fall over. They really needed to sleep.

"No," Harry whispered back. "But I can almost hear it."

And he could. The stomping, the sound as if someone was literally jumping as loud as they could in iron shoes, was growing louder and louder. And it wouldn't be long now before whatever was making that noise would turn the corner and face them.

Harry's eyes widened – something had just entered his view. Something small and white, but he didn't bother to look properly. His instincts had taken over, and he bellowed; "Stupefy!"

His Lumos died out at the same time the hallway bursted with red light, and Harry almost had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. They flew open, however, when he finally saw what (who) had just entered their hallway.

Hermione.

"Fuck!" He shouted, not caring that cursing wasn't proper, that Percy might jump and fall from shock. "Hermione!"

He wasn't the only one who shouted her name. Ron – who had jumped from around the corner – had pushed her away from the red beam, shouting her name in a desperate cry. The curse, instead of hitting Hermione, hit the wall behind them, and the ground beneath them began to shake.

"Hermione," Harry breathed, his eyes still too wide. His heart felt too big for his chest. "Shit. Are you okay?"

"Harry!" She shouted back, her eyes equally wide. "Thank merlin!"

That wasn't really the reaction he'd expected from almost stunning her. (He hadn't exactly been holding back.) For a few seconds all he could do was stare at her, and judging by Ron's expression, he felt about the same.

Then Ron turned to Harry, too, and shook his head as if he was both tired and relieved to see him. "Mate, you have good instincts, but do try to look who you're shooting at."

That made Harry grin sheepishly. "Sorry, 'Mione. You just looked like a monster for a second."

She crossed her arms. Even from this distance, Harry could see she was only acting as if she were annoyed – she really was too relieved to see him in one piece. "Thanks for that, really. But I suppose I can't really blame –"

"Percy?"

Hermione turned. Annabeth had appeared next to her, and her eyes looked crazy – as if she just saw a ghost. (Had they run into a monster? Was Annabeth attacked? She didn't have any injuries.) Her gaze was focused on Percy, who was still clinging to Harry's shoulder as if it was a lifeline.

"Hey, Wise Girl," Percy said with a grin. "Glad to know you're okay."

She didn't look glad. If anything, she looked mad. For a second she just stared at her boyfriend, then she huffed and started stalking towards us. Her feet made a loud thumping sound, even though it was just mud, and Harry immediately knew it had been Annabeth who had been making so much noise. (Why was she so mad? Had Ron pissed her off?)

"You've been using too much power, haven't you?" She almost spit her words out. "I have told you not to do that, it might kill you one of these days!"

Percy held up his hands – which wasn't a smart move. He started wobbling on his feet. "I'm pretty sure dying isn't even optional for me."

"Not funny, Perce," Grover said from across the hall. Ron snorted.

Annabeth only had eyes for Percy. "You're covered in mud."

"We were having a picnic!" Percy defended, pointing at Harry. (Who was also covered in mud. Well, his jeans were, anyway. His sweater still looked relatively clean.)

Annabeth looked like she wanted to smile and frown at the same time. She finally settled for looking slightly exasperated. "A picnic. In the labyrinth."

Percy shrugged. "Yeah. Kinda. It was very enlightening."

He and Percy crossed gazes, and they both smiled. Annabeth didn't miss that, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then don't tell me."

"You're not going to get mad at me for using too much power?"

"Oh, I am mad." She said. "Very." Then she kissed him, and Harry thought that she might be more worried than mad, after all. Ron made gagging noises in the background, but the two of them didn't really seem to care. When Annabeth leaned away again, Percy's face looked red and flushed, but less tired than he'd looked in hours. "Don't ever get lost again, do you hear me?"

Percy grinned slowly. "Loud and clear, Wise Girl."

"Good." If Harry didn't know any better, it seemed like Annabeth was blushing, too. "Now let's go and find us a place to sleep."

"Thank merlin!" Ron shouted, stomping towards them. He grinned at Harry, which turned into an apologetic smile when Hermione suddenly hugged Harry so tightly his breath left his lungs. (Whilst muttering things like 'you're a stupid idiot' in his ear.) "I was afraid you were never going to say that."

x

They'd started debating who was going to have first watch the minute they spotted a hallway relatively fine for sleeping – thus, a ground which wasn't either lethal or bad for your clothes – but when Percy had literally fallen asleep as soon as his head had touched the ground, they decided that they should all just take a quick nap instead.

"Good night," Harry muttered, his hands snugged inside his sweater's pockets and his hood up as a sad excuse for a pillow.

"'night," Ron replied tiredly, which was soon followed by snores.

Harry'd had trouble sleeping for weeks – no, months. After what happened at the third task of the Triwizard Tournament Harry had been constantly plagued by vicious nightmares of the graveyard, of Cedric, of them deciding they both should grab the cup, and the weird nightmares of Harry never reaching the door at the end of the hallway.

Those nightmares had made him very unwilling to go to sleep at all, often postponing it by running lapses in his room. (Until Uncle Vernon would shout through the cat-flap in his door to calm the hell down.)

Now, however, he was so tired that he, just like Percy, fell asleep as soon as he'd closed his eyes.

And for the first time in months he slept dreamless.

x

"Wake up, boy."

"No," Harry muttered, his eyes firmly closed. He just wanted five more minutes – maybe even just one. Anything better to have another day at the Dursleys. "Go away, Uncle."

"I am not your Uncle, little one."

Slightly confused, Harry opened one eye.

And scrambled straight up.

Right across from his stood a woman – but no ordinary woman. He immediately knew she couldn't be human, couldn't be mortal. She was at least seven feet tall, and her dress robe was so black it seemed to absorb all the light around it. In her hands she held a wooden staff, but nothing like any wand Harry had ever seen, and there was a literal flame bursting from the tip, illuminating the room. The goddess – because of course she was a goddess, how could she not be one with an ageless face like hers? – was smiling kindly at him, her eyes reflecting the light.

She was beautiful... but Harry felt scared all the same.

"Ah," she sighed, smiling still. "My little lightning boy."

It was way too early for this. "I..." Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked at his friends. They were all still sleeping, which was weird. It wasn't as if they couldn't have heard the goddess talking, nor him waking up so soundly. And there was this weird green mist hanging above them... "What's wrong with them?"

The goddess waved her hand carelessly, and Harry flinched. (Who knew what powers that goddess held in just the tip of her finger?) "I lulled them to sleep with a harmless hymn. They'll be back to normal the moment I'm gone."

"Right." It wasn't right, but he couldn't say that. Not to a goddess. He wasn't stupid. "And who are you?"

"Hecate, of course," she said airily, "goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads – all right up your alley, if I should believe all the stories they tell about you." The flame kept bouncing with every word she spoke, getting higher and lower as her voice did. Her skin was so pale. "And I do believe them."

Still getting used to the fact that a goddess – an ancient, all-powerful immortal goddess – knew about him, Harry tried to stay calm. (And not freak out by running away screaming.) "You've heard stories about me?"

"Why, yes of course, lightning boy."

She never wavered her eyes from Harry's face, so naturally, he avoided it like the plague, and looked around the small room instead. At both ends of the room were creatures, as if guard-dogs, to keep him from running if he dared to. On the left there was a polecat, strolling around, and on the right sat a dog, who looked too intelligent for a simple animal if you'd ask Harry. (Maybe an animagus?)

"What..." Harry cleared his throat again. (Speaking to goddesses was apparently not his strong suit.) "What are you doing here?"

"I thought that was obvious." She looked honestly surprised. "You are one of my creation, lightning boy, and one of the most powerful at that. My children have sided against you – not that I can blame them, I'm afraid, for he who wants to kill you is a magical miracle in an entire different way – so I couldn't stop myself from seeing you." Her gaze swept across Harry's body, from his untidily hair to his scruffy-looking shoes. (His shoes were brown from the mud, and half his jeans were, too. He didn't know what you were supposed to wear when an immortal being visited you, but this couldn't be it.)

He grinned sheepishly. "If I'd known a goddess would've come to visit, I would've worn something nicer."

She almost smiled. "You wouldn't have, but it's nice of you to say so. You resemble Poseidon," she finally decided, for the first time looking at Harry's friends beside him. "But you aren't his child, I can sense it. You are a very strange wizard, indeed."

He shouldn't laugh at a goddess – but he did it anyway. "I know."

Her face darkened for a moment, but the moment had passed as quickly as it had happened. "I am not going to stop my children from fighting you, but I will not join them, either."

"Er – thank you?"

She nodded, as if accepting it. "Olympus has forgiven me for the side I had picked during the last war, but your demigod friends have not. They have not forgiven any immortal being for making the same choice I did, lest their own parents. I know you are less judgmental than your friends –" her eyes fell on Annabeth (who was drooling uncharacteristically in her sleep) "– which is why I speak about this to you, and you alone, lightning boy. I refuse to pick a side again, especially at wars that concerns both my creations."

In short, Harry thought amusedly, her visit was entirely pointless.

(And he was never, ever going to say that out loud.)

(Could goddesses read minds?)

(Merlin, he hoped not.)

"Well," Harry finally said when it seemed like she wouldn't say more, "I suppose that's understandable. Though Voldemort –" she raised a mere eyebrow at the casual mention of his name " – isn't really the same kind of wizard as I am."

"He uses the gift I had given to your kind," she countered, but she was still smiling. "He uses it with so much obsession, and he cherishes his gift with the same amount as you do. How are you two different?"

"He's killed people! He..." Harry blinked. "He's the darkest wizard there has ever been –"

Hecate shrugged. (A goddess, shrugging at him. Harry felt as if he was still dreaming.) "And yet he is a wizard, like you are. Would you condemn me for choosing the wrong side at the last war? Would you hold me accountable for the many deaths that war has cost – including those of my own children – because of my choice?" When Harry didn't say anything, she leaned back. "I thought not. As I said before, this little quarrel, this war... I won't back you up nor your arch-nemesis. But I am here, little lightning boy, to give you a little piece of advice."

He nodded slowly, not daring to speak out loud. (How could she say Voldemort was like him? He wasn't. He wasn't.)

"You will not find what you seek in Colorado." She waved her wand around, and her two guard-dogs quickly joined her side, stepping over his sleeping friends effortlessly. "If you go there, you will find nothing but pain. Safe yourself the trouble."

Harry blinked. Then blinked again. "Wait – what? But we have to go there! It's our only lead!"

"It isn't, little lightning boy, you have been too simple-minded to actually see." Her voice sounded stern, but her eyes were kind. "Go west, go back, and don't trust the snakes. If you encounter a dog, listen to him – he will guide you."

Nothing what she was saying made sense. Harry's chin had probably dropped to the floor by now in his confusion. "I will not go back!" He shouted finally, pointing at his friends on the floor. "It has taken us ridiculously long to get here in the first place, I'm not –"

"You shouldn't take my advice so lightly, boy." Her fire flickered, and her eyes seemed to glow in the dark. "It is not often that I come back on earth to speak to mortals such as yourself."

"I – I mean no disrespect, but –"

"Yet you showed it anyway." She petted her she-dog with her left hand, gazing down upon Harry. There was something in her glance that seemed final – as if she decided she had stayed here long enough. "Heath my advice, little lightning boy. You should do well to follow it." Her eyes fell upon his friends again. "Especially considering your... prophecy."

And with that she shimmered – and disappeared without even a single puff of wind.

After the goddess had gone, Harry had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning about her last words. Because he knew exactly what part of the prophecy she had tried to warn her about – the part of the prophecy that, if he went on to Colorado, would come true. The same sentence that had pained Percy so much when he had to choose who to take with him.

Facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war.

Thank you all for the massive amount of reviews on the last chapter, they made me so happy! Please, if you liked this chapter – or if you just want to speak to me about either headcanons about this story or about, well, anything – review! Make my day!

(I have just finished reading Carry On for about the fifth time. Was it too noticeable by using the line 'worst chosen ones that have ever been chosen'? Ah well. Sue me. I love that darned book, and especially Baz. (And, damn, now I want to write a fic about them, what have you done, Rainbow Rowell?))

Anyway, I'm getting distracted. Here are my replies to the wonderful anonymous reviewers;

Frida: Again, your review was very kind. You really have to stop doing that. (Or I'm merely updating quickly to get a new one from you.) Well, you can speak more Italian than some half-Italian people I know, so congrats :) And I'm really really glad you liked that chapter! I honestly love Ron with all my heart, so I couldn't help giving him a part in solving it. The Hidden Oracle just came into my mail today, and I'm going to read it as soon as I publish this chapter – and ah, yes, another Solangelo shipper! I love those two very much! (Maybe you should read my Solangelo fic on ao3? I'm totally not showing off. Shh.) And yeah, I might include those two, though I'm not sure yet. I'd promised to stay in canon, regarding their relationships, but I might get those two to flirt shamelessly. (Well, not might. Probably. Definitely. Sigh.) You don't have to admire anything though – it's not really my fantasy! I mean, I literally use someone else's characters! Still, it's nice of you to say so. Have a lovely day!

Guest: Go Slytherin, indeed!

Lyssa: One day! *cue ominous villain-y laughter*

Gingewonka: (Nice name) Wow, reading it in one hour? I'm kinda impressed. How did you manage that? Thank you for saying that though, and it's not a service – it's a hobby!

Violet: You dislike Annabeth? Ah… She's my queen, so I'm sorry if I don't agree. Her hubris might be stubbornly irritating at times, but it's not really her fault. Well, I'll see it as my job now to show you how awesome she is during this fic! (Totally not a big job. Sh.) Thank you for explaining that! I don't see how this fic could be fulfilling in any way, but I'm glad that it is that way for you! If this is one of your first fics, how did you come across it? (Thanks for the recs!) Love.

VanRiddleZ: Ahw, thank you! So much! It's my pleasure.