Okay, this story literally goes nowhere. There's no plot. Nothing. Sorry! There's no Heroes of Olympus plot line in this story. Line break=chapter break
"Percy! Percyyyy! Wake up, Seaweed Brain!" I woke with a start, turning my head to the nearest source of light. An image of Annabeth shimmered right above my bedside table.
"Wha...?"
"Percy! I don't have much time! I only have two Drachma and long-distance calls take more time! You should know that. Now WAKE UP!" My girlfriend yelled as loud as she could without waking the rest of my apartment building.
"I'm up, I'm up already! Gods, Annabeth, what would give you the idea to call at one in the morning?"
"Nice to see you too. California is three hours behind New York. It's only ten here. Gods, I must have forgotten. Still, you have to listen to this!" For a usually calm and collected daughter of Athena, Annabeth was as hyper as the Stoll brothers on caffeine.
"Well, it must be pretty important for you to IM me at one o'clock in the morning!" I said again.
"Seaweed Brain, listen! So your birthday is coming up in August, right?" She didn't wait for me to reply. "Well, I was up on Olympus trying to think of a good gift I could give you and it turns out a lot of the gods are more grateful to you than they let on. So I talked my mom into getting them to help me get you a supertotallyawesome gift! Guess where we're going?" I tried not to groan as I ran through the list of boring architectural places Annabeth wants to take me to and mentally crossed off the ones we've already been to and already almost-destroyed.
"Um, the Parthenon?" I guessed.
"No, though that would be pretty awesome..." She seemed off in her own world for a minute, but quickly returned to her original train of thought. "We're going to London this summer! For the Olympics! Happy early birthday!" My jaw dropped.
"No way! You have got to be kidding. Like, no offense, but I thought your mom was against anything fun. Plus she hates me. How did she even do that?"
"My mom is incredibly fun, Percy. And she only hates you most of the time. She pulled a few strings because I pleaded with her for, like, a really long time. Nike owed her a favor, and she always gets good seats at major sporting events..."
"Oh my gods! This is the coolest birthday gift ever! I can't believe this! Just you and me?"
"Well, you, me, Thalia- Athena got her a temporary break from the Hunters, something about payback for shooting a sacred owl or whatever- and Nico, who Demeter insisted tag along so he wouldn't ruin her mother-daughter time with Persephone this summer. We're going to have so much fun!"
"You know it, Wise Girl. I'm going to celebrate my birthday- in LONDON- with my favorite people in the world! Annabeth, you are the best girlfriend I could ever have. And not just because we're going to London. I love you," I smiled. It was impossible not to smile when you saw her grinning.
"I love you, too. Look- I have the tickets right here!" She held up four tickets for Delta Airlines, from New York City to London, England. A sudden thought made my stomach sink like a stone.
"Wait, Annabeth. You didn't tell me. We're flying?"
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,
We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron.
As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the Cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school.
It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is.
Hoping to see Harry soon,
Yours sincerely,
Molly Weasley
Harry couldn't believe it. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to A) see the finals of the Quidditch World Cup and B) escape the Dursleys for the rest of the summer? How could he possibly miss it?
"So- can I go then?" he asked, silently begging and wishing his wizard powers included mind control. Vernon was on the edge of an attack: of course he wanted to be rid of the retched boy- for the rest of the holiday no less, but was it worth the price of Harry's sheer misery while staying with his family? Vernon resisted the urge to twitch.
After a long explanation of who the Weasleys were and what Quidditch was, all the while making sure Mr. Dursley didn't flip his lid, the Dursleys grudgingly agreed to let Harry attend.
Harry might have hugged them had he not hated them so much.
...
Harry practically threw up, still reeling from the Portkey travel. In the corner of his eye he could see Ron and Hermione doing the same, though Fred and George, as well as their father, looked unharmed.
"Welcome to London, everyone!" Mr. Weasley announced proudly once everyone had regained their bearings. Harry, who had never himself travelled to London, looked around in awe. As to not alert the Muggles, the Cup was being held a distance outside of London, but Harry could see the skyline and barely make out Big Ben and the London Eye in the distance.
"Normally, the World Cup would be held far out in the middle of the countryside, but the Muggle Olimpiss are being held in the center of London," Mr. Weasley explained. "And it was the perfect opportunity to cover wizard activity with an international Muggle tournament as well."
After a short walk, Harry found himself surrounded by what seemed like miles of tents. Wizards, most looking somewhat ridiculous in mismatched and out-of-style Muggle appealer in a feeble attempt to 'blend in', shouted in hundreds of different languages, trying to be heard over the general roar of the crowd. Peddlers ambled around, selling everything from Irish good luck charms to moving posters of Victor Krum.
"Fred, George, help me with the tent," Mr. Weasley commanded. With a flourish, the twins flicked out a small burlap bundle. Was that the tent all six of them were supposed to stay in? After a few minutes of pitching (and re-pitching) the tent, Mr. Weasley gestured everyone inside.
"No way everyone's going to fit in here. It isn't possible," Hermione remarked as they made their way through the tan-colored tent flaps. Her eyes widened as they came upon a space almost as large as the Dursley's entire ground floor.
"It's not much, but it'll do," Mr. Weasley rounded out the bunch. "Make yourselves at home, children. We've got a Quiditch match to prepare for."
Flying across the country on my first quest had been bad enough. An almost seven-hour trip was practically unbearable. Everyone was staring at the guy clutching the armrests and trying not to hyperventilate.
At least Thalia was kind of in the same boat as me. We'd stuck Annabeth in the window seat with me in the middle and Thalia as far away from seeing outside. Still, her knuckles were white as well, and every time she even saw a glimpse of a cloud she'd shiver.
The flight attendants seemed particularly nervous about us- they kept asking Annabeth if we were alright, if there was anything they could do for us. I was surprised at how Annabeth continued to nicely decline their offers.
To keep both of us preoccupied, she asked what events we wanted to go see. Naturally, I wanted to watch swimming and diving, and Thalia was totally looking forward to the archery. Annabeth said she wanted to see some fencing, and we wanted to watch the football and gymnastics as well. Plus all the other events we could possibly fit into our schedule.
...
"Thank you for flying with us today as we touch down in London-" the flight attendant was cut short by a loud shout of "YES!" from yours truly. I caught her glare and, embarrassed, quickly sat back down and shut up. It was like being in school all over again.
"As I was saying, we have landed in London. Enjoy the Olympics everyone! Have a safe travel!" I basically sprinted off the plane, followed closely by Thalia and Annabeth, who was the only one to offer the crew an apologetic glance. Something told me we wouldn't be receiving any sympathy from the workers in the future.
Waiting for the luggage took practically forever. Thalia was doing better now that we were securely on the ground, but anything airplane-related was still not my favorite place to be.
"Seaweed Brain, you're going to wear a hole in the floor pacing back and forth. Why don't you, uh, go watch the news over there?" It wasn't hard to tell that Annabeth was tired. Even though it was only seven o'clock in London, it was midnight for me and two in the morning for her. Not wanting to make her mad, I edged away and tried to ignore the newscaster's funny accent as I listened.
"Though more than ample lodging and hotels have been provided for international Olympics-goers, a large group not wanting to pay rent has set up a camp of sorts directly outside the city." The reporter's face was replaced with a picture of an area about the size of Camp Half-Blood, but filled with tents of all shapes and sizes. There were kids about my age waving sticks at each other, and old men dressed in long robe-thingies. I figured they were definitely not from America or Britain. "Officials have yet to comment on whether they will be allowed to stay. We'll be right back after this short break." It was weird seeing the same commercials, but with English accents, but I quickly grew bored and walked back to Annabeth and Thalia.
Annabeth had a small suitcase, while Thalia had only the silver backpack she'd taken as her carry-on. She was holding my duffel and promptly shoved it into my hands.
"Happy birthday, Kelp Face."
"Gee, thanks. I'd get you something awesome for yours, but you don't ever get to have one again," I shot back.
"And that's a bad thing?"
"Guys! C'mon, let's just get out of here. If you guys bicker in the taxi, so help me Zeus..." she left the threat hanging, glaring at both of us. Needless to say, we shut up pretty quick.
"What's the hotel address? I can call to see if they have a shuttle or something," I offered. We stepped outside, Annabeth digging through her bag to find the paper with our reservations.
"Perce! I was looking all over the city for you!" came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, pulling out Riptide in the process. The blade found itself at the neck of Nico Di Angelo. I quickly drew my sword back in but didn't miss the glare he shot me. "Nice to see you too. Now are we heading to the hotel or what?"
"Nico? What the Hades are you doing here?" Thalia, obviously not briefed on the entire trip, asked incredulously.
"I was just stopping by to have tea with the Queen. Why do you think I'm here, Pinecone Face?"
"But how did you-" I couldn't help but ask
"Shadow Travel. Much better than flying, any day. But I'm tired, can we head out?" We all turned to Annabeth, still in pursuit of her paper. After a few more seconds, she pulled it out and began to scan.
"Found it! Okay, says here that it doesn't have a shuttle. Guess we're calling a taxi," she read.
It took me a while to register that the taxis were black- it reminded me just a little too much of the Gray Sisters' cab back home. But after we snagged one, we fell into a half-sleep all the way back to the hotel, all excited for the Games ahead.
"I can't believe it- how stupid did they assume Muggles really are? Even with all the protective enchantments, there's no way they would've missed huge group of people in strange clothes, waving wands and doing things that couldn't be explained by any Muggle... what's the word- siennz?" Mr. Weasley was just about as angry as Harry had ever seen him.
"Ehrm, could you possibly mean science, Mr. Weasley?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Yes, yes. Syens, that's it. Anyway, now the Ministry has disbanded this camp altogether. We're going to have to move."
"But dad!"
"Blimey, where're we going to stay now? We can't go back home before the Cup's done- no way."
"Yeah- we've gotta watch Krum take the trophy!" Various complaints erupted from the teens. Mr. Weasley waved them away with his hand.
"Now, did I say we're going back home?" So there was hope after all. "There's only one... slight complication," Harry had spoken (for lack of a better word) too soon. "In order to 'blend in' better, as they say, we are staying at a Muggle hotel. You are not to let any of the Muggles see magic of any kind- I've asked your mother to determine punishment for that, in addition to any punishment the Ministry gives you. No magic, magical items, magic talk, or anything at all until we are safely out of range of any Muggles, understood?" For some reason, he was glaring especially pointedly at Fred and George, who feigned surprisingly realistic innocence.
Slight grumbles about "bloody Muggles" and "no magic, no fun" were made under their breaths, but at least nothing was heard by Mr. Weasley. With a wave of his wand, the tent was repacked and everyone was ready to go. The plan was to Apparate into an abandoned warehouse in London and they could be one their way.
Harry had never been a big fan of Apparation, but now the sinking in his stomach was even more prominent. He didn't want to leave this wonderful madness, to go back to the normal (also known as boring) Muggle way of things. At least he had a little more practice with hiding hid wizardness and blending into the rest of the world, as did Hermione. He could only reason how the Weasleys were going to fit in.
His thoughts became a blur as an unseen force tugged at his stomach, the world blurring in front of his eyes.
...
"This is it, everyone! Welcome to our home for the next few weeks." Everyone groaned in relief. Mr. Weasley had gotten the taxi driver utterly lost by shouting out directions, then quickly changing his mind (and, in turn, their course). What had initially been a twenty-minute ride with all of them crammed into a taxi-van had quickly turned into an hour, then an hour and fifteen minutes, and finally an hour and a half. As soon as the doors of the automobile had opened, the wizards had practically stampeded out, paying no mind to the Muggles in their way.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione pretty much ran full-on into a group of Muggles about their own ages, causing both groups to make contact with the floor.
"Ow, what the Hade-hell was that for?" a punk-looking girl asked.
"Sorry 'bout that, mates," Ron said sheepishly, picking himself up off the floor and offering a hand to the seemingly youngest of the group. The goth boy refused the offer, getting up on his own and leaving Ron looking a little awkwardly out of place.
"What was the rush anyways?" he muttered.
"Be nice, Death Breath. It was an accident," the other foreign girl said, dusting herself off. Harry realized suddenly that they all had American accents. The goth boy only grunted in response.
"It was an accident, honest. We're really sorry," Hermione said. Harry nodded. By now, all seven of the teens were on their feet again, and all the luggage was in the right hands.
"It's no problem, Nico's just a bit of a drama king." Everyone laughed except the goth (probably Nico, Harry reasoned).
"Oh, um, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley, and Harry, ah, Potter." Harry was incredibly happy that there was no spark of recognition in any of their eyes.
"Nice to meet you- I'm Annabeth Chase."
"Thalia." No last name? But Harry was a little too intimidated by the sparky-eyed girl to ask about it, and he suspected the same of his two companions.
"Nico diAngelo."
"Percy Jackson." Each person shook hands. Harry hadn't really paid Percy notice before, but he was obviously the leader of the little group.
"Are you from America?" Ron asked.
"Yeah. We've never been to England before- have you been to the U.S.?" Annabeth looked like she was analyzing every possible aspect of the three wizards.
"Nope. So are you all in for the... umm... Olim-Olimprick-?"Ron struggled with the word.
"The Olympics? Yeah- can't wait to see it all! What about you guys!"
"Yeah, uh, totally! Can't wait either," Harry replied. There was kind of a lull in the conversation- obviously, neither side knew what to say.
"So... uh, see you guys around!" Percy said a bit awkwardly. Everyone agreed.
"Yeah- see you 'round!" Ron called, and the groups were back on their separate ways.
Heh... awkward ending much? Sorry bout 'tha, as Hagrid would say. Thanks for reading!