When she woke up, there were a lot of people staring at her in concern.
"Urgh. Does anyone have any nectar?" She asked groggily.
"Hermione–" Harry started, but she lifted her hand, interrupting him.
"Don't, Harry. I'll be fine."
Percy, her other older brother, gave her a glass, looking at her thoroughly unimpressed. "I can't let you do this." He told her.
"Excuse me?" She said, outraged. "Nobody lets me do anything! I'll do it whether you like it or not. I don't need your permission!" She growled.
Harry and Nico, who had plenty of experience with Hermione's temper, when telling her there was something she couldn't do, only groaned.
"Nico! Harry! Back me up here!"
Harry sighed. "I don't like it either. In fact, I hate it, but I know enough about Hermione to know, that if she has made a decision, nothing will stop her. Even if we hate it."
Nico had been biting his own cheek. "I don't like it either. My idea was, to do it on Olympus, but I can see, when another idea has merits."
"And what makes this idea better, exactly?" Percy asked exasperatedly.
"Olympus is on the top of the Empire State Building, yes? When we go up there, Zeus is most probably going to defend himself, and some of the other gods are too. Odds are, that a fight of those proportions, would devastate New York. But if we can grab Zeus, and isolate him, we can minimize the casualties, and also make it safer for ourselves, not having to worry about other gods firing at us." Hermione explained.
Percy started pacing, pulling his hair. "And you're sure you're up for it?"
She sighed. "It's going to be hard, I won't lie, but it's going to be fine."
"It's just that I only just got you. I don't want to lose you." He said quietly.
"I'll do, what needs to be done. And we need to do this." Hermione intoned.
No one could argue with that.
"Get some sleep, you guys. It's going to be a hard day tomorrow." Apollo told them.
Everyone left the room, except Nico.
"Mind if I join you?" He asked, smirking.
She lifted the cover in a silent gesture.
He smiled, and stripped down to his underwear, and slipped in next to her. He pulled her close, so they were nose to nose. They laid in silence for a while, breathing in each other, Nico stroking her hair, and Hermione drawing circles on his chest with her fingers. Neither really knew, what to say. The stakes for the next day were high, and their odds weren't looking too good. Especially for Hermione. Nico didn't want to argue though. That moment was too perfect to ruin, with any kind of words, and in the end, words weren't even necessary. They stayed like that, until sleep finally caught up with them.
…
The next morning, everyone was in a funky mood, but on each their scale. They had decided, that a breakfast was in order, before the mission. Hazel was a jittery mess, Frank doing his best to comfort her. Leo was so overly cheerful, Hermione was scared, he might break his own face, Percy was constantly putting out stray bits of fire. Problem was, that Percy wasn't fully in control of his own nerves, so at one point, Leo got completely soaked. Hermione fixed it, with a wave of her hand, bit Leo still sent Percy a dirty look, from time to time. Rayna was stoic as always. Piper looked sad, mostly. Jason was MIA. Rachel looked about ready to vomit, and Apollo looked guilty beforehand. Like he was a little boy, planning to shoplift.
Draco was in Will's room, going over theories. He had asked Calypso for help, considering her natural talent in Herbology. He wanted to create a potion, that could hopefully neutralize the curse. The problem was, that he didn't know how of factor in the demi-god part.
Percy and Harry sat, sending each other looks, every few minutes. She knew they were both fighting huge hero complexes. Neither was used to sitting on the sidelines.
Apollo put up a good argument though. Hermione was the only one strong enough to magically transport, and hold Zeus down, while Apollo drew out his divinity. Sending in two children of Poseidon would look too much like a take-over, and Harry couldn't even enter Olympus.
They would follow to New York though. Harry had gotten in contact with the American wizarding government, and had been permitted access to the Floo system underneath the subway.
The plan was, Percy, Harry, Hermione and Nico, would travel by Floo to New York. Only Hermione and Nico were to take the elevator to floor 600 though. Percy and Harry would stay at the bottom.
Hermione and Nico, would then sneak in, and somehow get close enough for Hermione to apparate with Zeus. Nico would then shadow travel the hell out of there.
At Ogygia, Apollo would be waiting for Hermione, she would hold Zeus down, while Apollo stripped him from his divinity. Piece of cake, right?
…
It started out, okay. Apollo shook each of their hands, and wished them luck. He looked extra-long at Hermione, as if to make sure, she wasn't going to get cold feet. She only responded by giving him a hug, squeezing him tight, making him smile at her fondly. After sharing hugs in the living room, they were leaving. Leo was jumping on the balls of his feet, eager to see the Floo in action again.
The American station, was nothing like Hermione had ever seen before. It seemed like only a few of the fireplaces used Floo powder. The rest were open, with green flames already burning. Above them were signs like "Times Square" "5th Avenue – Empire State Building" "Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall" "Yankee Stadium"
"This is amazing" Percy whispered. His eyes were wide, looking around, taking everything in. He was obviously not deterred by the spinning of Floo travel.
Hermione smiled at his excitement. He really was her brother. She had to yank him by the sleeve towards the next fireplace.
That's, where everything went to shit.
They had just entered the lobby of the Empire State building, when a sharp crack sounded, almost like a whip, except, for the fact, that a small place in front of Hermione's feet was now black and smoking.
"I'm sorry. I can't let you do this." A familiar voice sounded behind them.
Only one more chapter to go of this story! It's going to be a long one though, and I'm planning a sequel :)
Keep reviewing!