Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Harry Potter series or from the Percy Jackson series. Those belong to the great J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.

Chapter 5

The next morning I woke up feeling well rested and happy. That was short lived when I remember I am going to be stared at and have rumors spreading around like crazy. I looked over and everyone was up and getting ready.

"Hey Jess. I'm not going to go down right away. Can you tell James for me." I asked.

"Sure thing." She gives me a smile and I lay back down until they all leave.

When I am alone I get up and walk to the bathroom, my eyes are slightly puffy from the night before so I put on a little makeup to hide it. I threw on my robes and walked out. No one was in the common room. Then I only passed a few people in the hall way. But as I walked into the great hall, stares.

I walked to my seat with my head down and tried not to get any attention to myself.

"Hey. Are you feeling ok?" Asked James.

"Yeah, I just want to get these next few days over with." I say.

"Oh Don't worry. It will be over before you know it." he said with a mischevious smirk.

Just then, the sound of an explosion happened and a cloud of black smoke. Then poppers appeared everywhere. It was chaos.

When some of the smoke cleared I tried to look around but it was still impenetrable. Then Professor McGonagall cleared the place up with the wave of her wand. They smoke cleared from the air, but as I looked around, everyone was covered in it. It was hilarious. Everyone was talking about it, trying to decide what happened. It was a prank of course. But I am so grateful for whoever the prankster is, it got all eyes off of me.

James leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Your welcome."

"You did this?" I asked.

"Actually we did. But he told us to cause a distraction so you wouldn't be the center of attention. We know how hard that is from the stories uncle Harry has told us." Said Fred and Roxanne who looked so happy with their prank.

"Aww! You guys are the best! I just hope it doesn't get you in trouble."

"Don't worry. The teachers are very calm with pranks if they don't happen often. Look Professor McGonagall is looking over here, is trying to glare but you can see the hint of smile in her face."

I look over and can see that if she wasn't the Headmistress she would be laughing away.

The rest of that day, no one stared at me when I walked by (maybe because no one noticed me with all the black dust) but I haven't heard any rumors. Since the incident with the Minotaur, I haven't been happier. I went to bed that night having dreams of what it would be like without any demigod troubles in my life.

Friday was very good. The prank talk was dying down, but I still wasn't the center of everyone's attention. I still had less stares and no rumors. So that day went pretty normal except for the fact that Jake and James were freaking out about tryouts. I understand Jake being nervous, but James was already gone through it.

So now it's the day of tryouts. Jess and I walked with them until they had to go off to the field for instructions, then we went into the stands to watch. I remembered how much I wanted to be a chaser, and watching them work in such good form made me want to do it even more. I am ready to try out next year.

When Beater tryouts started we cheered as loud as we could for Jake. He was doing really good. He was really strong (thanks to Ares) and accurate with good aim (Apollo kids are really good with archery, which you need aim for that). I have a feeling he will get the spot, if not, the captain is blind.

Seeker tryouts were next and when we saw James flying up in the air we cheered as loud as we possibly could. He looked over and winked at us. There was a no brainer who would get that spot. He was faster then everyone and caught all of his snitches in the fastest time. He is a true natural.

When tryouts were over they all went back into the changing room and we waited for them. It took a lot longer than normal for them to finish. They soon came out and had glum faces. "Is everything ok?" I asked concerned, tryouts went great for them

"They announced the players of the team already." Said James sadly.

We were silent for a second then Jess said, "By the look on your faces, it looks like you didn't get the spots!" As she was talking her voice got higher and louder. She was getting angry. "Oh no! Your captain is stupid! I think I will go in there and have a word with him. And I might just kick is butt while I am at it!"

While she was on her rampage, the boys start laughing. "Chill Jess, we made it!" They pull out two Jerseys that has there last name on it. "How awesome! We were able to get our two biggest fans one!"

Automatically I go to James and Jess goes to Jake! "YAY! That is amazing! I will wear it at every game while cheering you on!" We give them big hugs then head to the castle. Instead of going to the common rooms we head to the kitchens to take a bunch of food and drinks ( I took a bag that is charmed that can fit just about everything) for us and our group to have a little party. We decide to take James and his friends room so we can have parties like at his house and there were a lot of other people in the common room celebrating because we have such an amazing team this year.

We got out all the food and started having a good time.

"Hey Noelle. I have something for you close your eyes." Sense it was James I trusted him, so I closed my eyes. Next thing I knew I had whip cream all over my face.

I wiped my eyes free of it and licked it off my lips. "Good one Jamesie, I guess this means our pranking wars aren't over?" I wipe a handful off my face into my hands. He starts backing off. "Are you scared? I would be, you saw what I am capable of." Out of no where I leap on him making us fall and I wipe my hands all over his face.

We wrestle on the ground and sense he is bigger than me, he gets me under him and my hands pin. Our eyes meet, and everything freezes as I am glued to his eyes with mine. Then James smirks and wipes his face all over my arms and face getting all the whip cream back on me.

I push him off me, stick my tongue out at him and grab some napkins. I try and push the feelings I just had away so I can enjoy the party and my head not be all foggy and distant.

The rest of the party is calmer and it was 10 o'clock by the time we are done. We say goodnight to the boys and head to our room. They all let me shower since of my fight with James.

Now that I finally had some time alone, I thought of that moment with James. What had happened. I have looked at James in the eyes plenty of times. Was it how we were positioned? It was like I looked into his eyes and actually saw past the dreaminess of those chocolate brown eyes and saw into his heart. And it was full of love. For me. I felt so much love for him in that second. I don't understand. Maybe it was the Aphrodite coming out of me, and liking that there was a cute guy holding me. I need to stop over thinking things. Love and wisdom don't match well.

And obviously it wasn't the same feeling for James since he broke the eye contact.

I finished my shower, and I didn't feel like blow drying my hair. I was so tired. And so were the other girls. They were already asleep and they left the light on for me. I have the best friends in the world. I decided to sleep in the new jersey and some sweats.

That night I had dreams of sweet, loving, dreamy, chocolate brown eyes

**James POV**

The girls left at 10, but they helped us clean before they left. They are amazing. I took a shower short after they left. My face was still sticky. When I was in there alone. I took in a deep breath. Since that moment me and Noelle were having our little food fight, I haven't been able to think straight. When I pinned her under me our eyes locked for a moment. Her striking blue eyes were fierce and focused then they softened when we locked. They were they calm blue of an ocean. And that one looked told me she will always love me. Maybe not in the way I love her. But as long as she loves me as her best friend, I can live with that. As long as she is by my side, I will be happy. I realized that if we stayed like that for too long, things would get awkward with our friends so I gave her her favorite smirk and finished the fight.

I watched her after the fight and she seemed like her normal self, so I guess she didn't have the same feeling from the look as I did.

I finished my shower and went to bed. I realized Noelle left her jacket on my bed. I smelled it and it smelt just like her sweet perfume she wears. I fell asleep holding the jacket, and in my dreams I was holding My Noelle Ann Thomas.