A: Luna's mother was named Pandora Lovegood. Really lovely if you think about it.
Listening to – Walk by Foo Fighters
Words – 3818
...
Percy knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He kept reliving his latest quest. There were flitting images of seeing Annabeth hurt, watching Harry and Bianca backed into a corner with dozens of monsters nearly upon them, seeing Thalia fight with Luke, remembering him fall off the cliff, watching Zoe in pain and then dying...
He sighed. No, it hadn't been like the previous ones where with a little quick thinking they'd been able to get away with scars that would heal and disappear. Percy would never forget the tremendous pain he had been in, lifting the sky. He'd never forget the battle. He'd never forget Zoe.
Percy looked around his new room. The mansion of Frost was huge. Four floors of furnishings and beautiful decor, the place was like some palace out of a history book. It wasn't too old fashioned, though. Considering that wizards weren't usually very much into technology, Sirius had followed Harry's directions and had installed electricity around the house.
They also had a TV. Just one, but it was a flat screen LED which was perfect for watching Ghostbusters which, strangely, no one seemed to find a complaint with, not even Harry.
Sally and Percy had just chosen their rooms for the summer in Frost. Nico, though staying just for a few days, was given his pick of the remaining rooms. The bedrooms on the first floor had been taken by Sirius, Remus and Sally. The four boys had automatically gone up one floor. Harry took the room which had a balcony where he could easily climb out into the spacious grounds which was half occupied by what look like a small forest.
Percy had a feeling that Harry would spend more time in the grounds than in his room. DJ was the same. He had chosen the biggest room which had two balconies, adjacent to each other and the space was absolutely immaculate.
Nico hadn't had much stuff. Though Sally and DJ had convinced him to go Christmas shopping, he had been reluctant. Percy knew that it would take some time for the kid to get used to the stark contrast in living arrangements, but how often did one get to live like spoiled brats?
Percy flopped onto his bouncy bed. He gave himself a small smile. The room was absolutely perfect. Sirius had guess how he'd like it and had decorated for him in advance. The wallpapers were blue. The soft carpet was royal blue and royally soft. The bean bag was blue with dolphins patterned over it. The shelves, table and chairs were, you guessed it, sea blue.
His bed was the softest thing in the universe. It felt like a water mattress and he couldn't stop bouncing on it. It cheered him up.
There was a knock on his door and Percy immediately struggled to get up. He kicked the sheets (blue, wow) away from him in his haste and said, "Yeah, it's open!"
Nico peeked in. He stared wide-eyed at everything. Percy had been in his new room for one hour and the place already started to look messy with the unpacked clothes strewn around and yes, that was his school tie hanging from the top of his grand bouncy four poster bed.
"Hey. How's your room?" Percy asked, kicking the mess behind the bed with a sheepish look.
Nico shrugged, loitering in. He looked around. "Wow, I can tell that your place already has your character."
Percy winked, "Is it because of the colour code?"
"Nope, it reminds me of your house back in New York."
Percy flicked his hand through Nico's hair as the kid ducked trying to escape. "Smart aleck. We'll get you your stuff tomorrow and then see how you manage it."
"But I'm gonna be here only for a few days."
"So you'll be wearing the camp t-shirt and ratty jeans for half the week? My mom'll pitch a fit. Not to mention DJ. He's been jacket-obsessed for the past few weeks. See this?"
Percy plucked off the glittering blue jacket from one of the chairs and held it up for Nico. "Courtesy of Daniel Potter. He said one of the shops from some linearly altered place in London can make this stuff like branded wear. Custom-made for each person. DJ's been giving them like hot cakes to everyone he knows. I'll be surprised if you don't get one for this Christmas."
"Uhhh..."
"Relax, Nico. Wizards are good people."
Percy sat on the bed again and patted the spot next to him. He sighed and joined him.
"What's the matter?"
Nico shrugged and stared at his shoes. "Was thinking about Bianca. What d'you think she's doing now?"
Percy tried to keep the frown away. "Well. She'll probably be showing off her ankle to the other hunters, that's for sure. The ambrosia would have fixed it by now. Plus, it was her first quest, so I'll bet she's real excited."
Not. Percy remembered seeing Bianca's face as Zoe died. She had not been happy or excited.
Nico looked sad. "When do you think she'll come by camp?"
He wasn't ready for this conversation. How would he be able to tell the ten year old that his sister basically left him to go skipping off to an adventure? Percy recalled the scene from the tent. Annabeth was declared missing and Zoe had slyly wrangled a vulnerable Bianca into taking the Hunter's oath. He remembered wondering if she'd forgotten that she had a brother, who was in fact a boy.
But Bianca di Angelo was only twelve. She had been scared and she had just discovered about the Gods. It wasn't completely her fault.
Percy had been willing to put the blame on Zoe, but now, he couldn't.
So what could he tell Nico?
"I think I can guarantee that we will be seeing the Hunters a little more from now on." Percy said, mustering up every drop of confidence he had. "Plus, I'll loan you a drachma. You can Iris Message her anytime you want. I'll teach you how. Now, I wanna see a smile."
Nico looked tired if anything. Percy cracked up a grin, showing all his teeth exaggeratedly. He poked the kid's arm. "Where's that clown face, Nico? You look like the sky's on your shoulders, pal."
Nico smiled.
...
Remus was darting through the newspapers. When Percy and Nico had reached the ground floor after a tricky race on the twirling banister (they really waxed this thing, huh?) he invited them for dinner.
"So." Remus set down the Daily Prophet. Percy saw photographs with people moving around a place of a broken shop. It almost made him want to read a newspaper which he'd tried to avoid ever since his mom had convinced him that it was good to read the papers.
"So, what?" Percy replied.
"I was planning to order in. What would you boys like? Continental? Fast food?"
"I can't have fast food. Continental is usually really varied... what about you, Nico?"
Nico looked up, surprised to be included in the conversation. Percy really wished he was a little more outspoken. It would be good for him to be involved in a new activity rather than mope about for his sister.
"I really dunno. Whatever tastes good, I guess."
Remus raised his eyebrows and started to dig through the newspapers again. He mumbled about how Sirius should learn order and arrangement before unearthing an old edition with an "Aha!"'
"Here you go. The menu from The Leaky Cauldron. I've always admired the Pot Roast."
"We're like a thousand miles from the bar. How're we gonna get food from London before it cools?" Percy said incredulously.
Nico leaned in to give a conspirator's whisper, "Maybe they magick it with a flying carpet."
Remus grinned. "Flying carpets are banned. And we just floo food before it cools. Now, take up your orders."
They ended up having dumplings and noodles of some kind. It was Christmas Eve and mindful of Harry's aversion to deforestation and plastic greenery, Remus and Sirius had cleared some space in the living room to fill the bounded area with mud and then transplant a Christmas tree into the space. They seven of them had spent the afternoon decorating the tree with soft lights and several newly bought baubles to make memories of. Percy dug into his noodles, watching the lit of tree, wistfully. His last Christmas was spent between his mom and him and as cozy as it had been, he had missed his friends at Camp.
Now, it was clear that he enjoyed more company. This time, they were in a huge house in the town of Gretna practically on the Anglo-Scottish borders. It was like a wonderland of vacations, right up there with the Bahamas.
Nico ate like he had the business to do so and Remus kept staring at them for some odd reason. It was then when Percy remembered something.
"Harry said you have a secret to tell us."
Remus choked on his dinner, coughing and beating his chest with a clenched fist to clear his airway. Percy slapped his back a few times till the man spluttered, "He did? Well, yes... yes, I do."
He cleared his throat as though he were about to announce something, but then went back to eating.
Percy raised an eyebrow. Harry had just mentioned it in passing that Remus would be staying with them in Frost Mansion and so had to make sure that everyone else was aware of the 'situation.' It had sounded blasé but the way Remus shifted awkwardly, listening to the two-in-one, Percy sat up straight trying to coax him into it.
"Okay. Anytime, you feel comfortable. But Remus, I want you to know that whatever it is that you have to say cannot be anymore astounding than what I know. I have certain experiences that may make you sit at the edge of your seat. Back me up, Nico."
Nico was too engrossed in his dumplings to follow the conversation but he did look up and say, "Yeah, like the time Percy went green."
No other explanations were given for the statement and Remus shook his head, "Honestly, it has more to do with trust than others."
"Harry trusts you."
"Do you?"
"Yep."
Remus set down his fork and spoon and sighed. "Would you trust a werewolf?"
Nico nearly dropped his plate. Percy's eyes went round. Whatever he had been about to say, that hadn't been guessed. Remus looked nothing like a werewolf.
"You're putting us on." Percy said, nudging Remus with his fist. He also put on a fake smile to try and reassure himself and Nico, but it didn't seem to be working.
Remus leaned back into his chair. "I wish I were. Sorry, Percy."
Nico stared at him as though trying to distinguish any wolf features in the tired seemingly normal face. "You don't look like a werewolf."
"Wait until the full moon."
Percy sat up. "You... you're really a ... wow! I mean, uh... sorry...?"
Remus chuckled and rubbed his face, pushing away stray strands of brown hair. The boys' reactions were much milder than what he'd received from other less pleasant sources.
"How? How did it... did you... how did it happen?"
Percy's throat went dry as Remus recounted a short version of the tale. He suppressed the shiver that went through him. Six year olds shouldn't have to worry about terrible unwanted transformations like that. Percy couldn't imagine the horrible years the man would have lived through, especially alone.
It explained the constant tiredness he wore day in and day out. He didn't look as battle-worn as Sirius was from his Azkaban stint, but the fact that both men were in their thirties made the story bitter – since it made them look like victims of several mid-life crisis scenarios.
"It was better at Hogwarts." Remus promised. "I had friends. I had magic. I had the trust. It made things so much more humane than just saying, 'that's a werewolf.'"
Nico settled his chin over his folded arms on the table. "Didn't others know you had feelings too?"
"They were too frightened to care about people like me." Remus shrugged.
"Yeah, I've met people like those. They like to hide under rocks and listen to flies on the walls even if those flies are mosquitoes and the walls are souls." Percy nodded, digging into his cold noodles.
Remus smiled, "It's a matter of perspective, Percy."
The demigod nodded flashing a grin, "Yeah. That's my perspective."
The werewolf winked and gestured towards Nico, "Another dumpling?"
"Yes, please –"
The fire place flared brightly. Green flames sputtered into existence and DJ stumbled into the room, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face to shift away the smog. His dress robes were covered in soot and pudding while his hair dripped liquid onto the carpet.
"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed, swinging from his chair at the dining table to get a good look at the messy boy.
"Don't ask." DJ groaned. "I think I got hit no less than thirteen times."
Remus got up to stare at him in disbelief. "DJ, what happened?"
DJ grabbed one of the paper towels from the kitchen counter to rub over his hair. "Hermione and Ron. That's what happened!" He rubbed his face furiously and glared at the soiled paper.
"Oh." Percy nodded and sat down. "I thought you would leave us hanging with a useless explanation."
The hearth flared again and this time, Harry stepped out, hit his head against the top of the brick opening and face-planted on the carpet. His bottle green robes now looked brown and humid.
"Is that... chocolate?" Nico asked standing and staring.
Harry coughed, getting to his feet. "I hate the floo. And yes, this is chocolate. Malfoy thought I would look better in brown than in green, so he upturned the bowl of Chocolate Surprise over me. What do you think?"
He spread his hands in an 'AHA' motion and chunks of chocolate flew from his sleeves to decorate the opposite walls. It gave the light cream wallpaper a nice little contrast and the smell wasn't too bad, either.
"The Potters are so eloquent." Percy whispered. Harry glared.
"Since when do you know what 'eloquent' means?"
"Don't be a meany!"
"How eloquent."
"How about an explanation?" Remus asked pointedly.
Harry sighed. "It started in 1994 when Hermione's parents decided that they wanted a child."
DJ threw one of the used crumpled up paper towels at Harry. "It started when Ron and Hermione got into an argument at the Ball."
Percy decided that it didn't sound like news since Harry had complained for months how his two best friends easily got into fights every other day over the smallest of things. Harry always had a flair for drama. He liked to complain about things. So it seemed obvious that he would make friends with the two people who liked to argue so much that Harry could complain about them.
At least, that was how Percy had seen it.
The floo flared once again and Mom and Sirius stepped out clutching each other. Mom had her eyes shut, her face scrunched up as though the ground had been pulled from under her feet. They looked no better than DJ and Harry. Plastered in soot and soaking wet they fell into the love seat. They probably would never talk about what happened.
"What happened?!" Percy asked.
"Food fight." Sirius mumbled and laid his head on her shoulder. Mom opened her eyes and shoved his face away in one swift move. She stood up, brushed the ice cream from her gown and walked away, limping on her broken stilettos and muttering, "Bottle blond witches."
"Tomorrow's headlines." Harry said, snatching the paper towel roll away from DJ. "Food Fight breaks the Yule Ball. Please note the happiness that I exude."
Nico giggled at that. Finally! An impression that was needed. Everyone stared at the little boy.
"Please note the happiness Nico exudes. And it's authentic too."Percy said, shoving his cousin playfully.
Remus shook his head laughing in exasperation. "So, Ron and Hermione started a food fight?"
"In all honesty, it was Lavender who threw the pumpkin juice at Hermione. So she unknowingly commenced it. If Hermione hadn't moved, the juice wouldn't have hit Fleur Delacour."
"And Fleur wouldn't have thrown the Caviar at Ron. And Ron was trying to hold Lavender and Hermione away from each other so it missed him and hit Pansy Parkinson. And her Lamb Roast wouldn't have hit Lee Jordan if he hadn't laughed. It went downhill after George yelled 'Food Fight'."
"No." Harry frowned, thinking back. "Pansy threw potatoes at Lee."
"It was the Lamb Roast, Harry."
Percy let out a chortle. "Man! I can't believe I missed that! I should have been there. Grover too, he's really good at throwing stuff."
...
The holidays continued. Percy was waiting for the day when he'd wake up from a dream about his dad telling him that Harry was invited to camp, but no such thing happened as of yet. On the other hand, Harry was reading through all moderately accurate Greek legends and myths to familiarise himself with the world he'd be entering. Percy had assured him that it was not too different than magic and all that was really needed was a really open mind.
"Percy, you have to help me."
Percy choked on his spinach juice. Every morning, Harry made green juice for the household on Mom's request. And while everyone moaned and groaned about it, no one had outright refused it seeing as her birthday was almost upon them.
On the morning after Christmas, the Daily Prophet was splashed with four pages of the travesty that had occurred during the Yule Ball. Safe to say that the TriWizard Tournament would never be held at Hogwarts again.
The most depressing articles were by, yours truly, Rita Skeeter. She'd posted her point of view on Hermione, Harry, Sirius and Sirius' date – an unknown witch with no background.
Percy had never seen his Mom so angry at an inanimate object (other than those shoes which no longer fit her.)
So the paper was hence forth banned from the house. With phrases like 'Love Triangle,' 'Stringing along' and 'Questionable Character,' the Prophet had more in common to Witch Weekly than to an actual newspaper.
Back on topic – Harry had just asked Percy for help. Inform the authorities for paranormal activity.
"You want my help?!"
"Was that hard to comprehend? Yes, Percy. I need your help."
Percy sighed and set down his glass. He was seated on top of the kitchen counter, watching Harry whisk the batter for chocolate chip cookies. It was to be a surprise for Mom's birthday.
"Would you like me to taste the dough?" Percy asked reaching into the bowl. Harry snatched it away and levelled him with a look.
"It's not about the cookies. It's about Camp. No, don't lick, Percy. Listen." He placed the bowl away from sight and wiped at some of the sugar dust down his shirt. "Should I learn Ancient Greek? I know a little Latin from Magical Theory classes at Hogwarts, but will that be enough?"
Percy shrugged swirling the taste of the batter in his mouth with his tongue. Harry flicked his ear protested. "Cut that out. Actually, we don't really talk to each other in Greek. We just know it. And we have classes for that, so you can attend those, if you want."
Harry nodded. "That'll be better than learning by my lonesome. How far along are you?"
"Oh you know. I'm a master. Chiron says he's never known anyone to pick it up so fast."
"Really?"
"... fine. I hate the verbs. Why can't they conjugate themselves?"
Harry smirked. Percy tilted his nose up in the air and let out a 'humph!' He leaned to reach out for more batter but Harry pushed the glass of spinach juice for him to finish first.
"Just a bit, Harry."
"No. It's supposed to be a surprise for –"
Mom entered the kitchen carrying her laptop. Well, the kitchen was an open area to the dining room, so she actually walked into the combined food space which shut up the talk. She looked happier in her new jacket which she was adamant that it was some world class brand - no matter how many times DJ had insisted that it was from a local shop in Diagon Alley.
"There's a surprise?" She asked.
"Nope." Percy said easily as Harry tried to subtly stand in front of the cookie dough. "We're talking about the prize for the winner of the Magic Tournament."
"TriWizard." Harry stressed. "At least, get the name right."
"Oh, that." Mom leaned against the counter, placing the laptop on the kitchen island. She frowned, the usual expression when the Tournament was brought up in conversation. "It's a Cup."
Harry nodded, "Silver and Glass. The real prizes are the fame and glory. There's also a thousand galleon reward."
"Thousand Galleons? Is that a lot?" Percy asked picking up his glass and looking at the bowl of dough. The cookies were being delayed by this chat. He knew that Mom liked to work on her novel drafts at the dining table. He had to get her to go somewhere else for her work for Harry to finish his because if she saw that Harry was baking one of her recipes, she'd try to help and the surprise would be ruined. And after what had happened with Rita Skeeter (a sweet talk with hidden and sharp swords,) she needed those cookies.
"A galleon is five pounds, Percy." Harry rolled his eyes.
"One pound is about 1.5 dollars." Mom added.
"So the prize is seventy five hundred dollars."
Percy choked on his spinach juice again.
...
Sally spotted sugar along Harry's shirt. Some had spilled over the counter top as well. Her heart swelled at the thought of him baking cookies for her. She'd always known that he knew his way around the kitchen. It was nice to see that he had seen it as a past time like his talent for learning languages. Sally had hoped he wouldn't retreat into himself after they had left England, but the damage wasn't as bad as she had thought. Of course, it must have had something to do with his new found friends.
Hermione and Ron may have brought on a less than favourable reputation on the situation of the tournament, but Sally knew that Harry was honestly happy that they had done that. He had never cared for the tournament, even less so after his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire.
And while the road may be hard, someone would be there, ready to hold his hand.