Disclaimer: Twentieth chapter, people. I wish you a nice life if you still don't get that I don't own PJO or HP.

~All Because of Blackjack (1)~

My first class, after a month, is, of all things, Divination.

I'm currently contemplating whether screaming, "You want me to climb to the North Tower after a month at the infirmary?!" would get me out of it or just have Gryffindor's points taken and earn me the title of "Most Insufferable Patient".

I give a sigh and start trudging up the steps with Harry, Ron, Kale and Ginny.

Hermione and Jiana chortled (chortled!) at the fact that I thought they took Divination.

It was weird when I asked because at the exact same time, they both said, "Divination? That idiotic subject made for lazy students and stupid believers? No offense to you, Alisa, Ginny and Kale."

The last part was because Ginny, Kale and I were forced to take it. So was Nico, but he's imitating a log right now.

Stupid, mandatory year of Divination.

We finally reach the top and we all fall onto a bunch of bean-bag chairs surrounding one of the bigger tables in the room.

"Hi guys!" chirped a voice that wasn't very familiar, to me at least.

"Oh, hey Rachel." Kale says, "What're you doing here?"

"Divination Assistant?" she says, exasperated, waving her hands vaguely, "Remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kale replies and turns to us, "This is Rachel, she's the equivalent of an Oracle at our ca- school. She's really cool."

Harry and Ginny look doubtful, but still said a polite "Hi."

While, Ron, the, again, Forever Tactless Idiot, said, "Cool? Seriously? There's more of a chance of there being a dumb Ravenclaw than a cool Divination Kid."

Rachel just rolls her eyes and tells him, "Look, dude, the only experience you've ever had of Oracles or Prophecies is from Trelawney, yeah? So don't judge me based on your stupid assumptions, and we got no problems with each other."

Then she went rigid like a statue and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She leaned forward and wiggled her fingers at Ron, with a spooky voice she chanted, "Your fate is sealed, stupid unbeliever. Trust not your judgment or live in hell forever!"

"Aaagh!" Ron screams, falling off his bean-bag chair.

"Haha, very funny Rachel." Kale says sarcastically.

"Oh, you know it is, Amante." Rachel replies, completely normal again.

"Wh-what was that?" Ron asks nervously, still on the ground.

"I'm a pretty good actress, aren't I?" Rachel says, ignoring Ron.

Me, Harry and Ginny start grinning. It was really funny.

"I like you already!" me and Ginny say simultaneously, causing Ginny to look at me and say, "Are you a mind-reader or something?"

"It was the same thing you said when I back-sassed your brother." I reply.

"You must be Alisa!" Rachel exclaims, as she shook my hand, "Sorry I couldn't meet you when you came to "school", my dad only lets me go there during the summer."

She sat down on a stool she pulled up and started chatting with me, Kale and Ginny while Harry spoke up a few times and Ron just fumed silently (Now, why is that familiar?).

Rachel was in the middle of telling us how Kale has an almost complete set of every single "student" and "teacher" in miniature metal form because of how he just works, and works, and works when he's upset, (much to Kale's embarrassment) when Trelawney appeared rasping, "Students, students!"

"Guess that's my cue to leave." Rachel says with slight disdain in voice as she gets up and stands next to Trelawney.

"Today, we will be opening our Inner Eye to the prophecies and signs of the cards!" Trelawney exclaims in that dramatically raspy voice. Rachel rolled her eyes and made a face.

"Each table will receive a two sets of muggle cards and each student will be reading a partner's chosen card according to the card's symbol and sign." She continues while waving her wand, causing cards to shoot out and place themselves cleanly on each table, "Your guides are on page four-hundred and twenty-seven of Crystals, Cards and Your Future, you may begin!"

"Okay, so we're supposed to take two cards each and the first would symbolize the bad part of our future and the second's the good part." Ginny reads out.

"We're seriously doing this?" I ask, slumping onto the table.

"Yeah, well, at least try for the first minute." Ginny replies, "Now everyone get two cards."

"Oh, fine." I say, taking out two cards. "So I got a joker and the king of hearts. Anyone want to read my future?"

Harry pulls Ginny's book to him and reads out loud, "Well, it says, "The Joker prophesizes of a trick slathered in honey," and "The King of Hearts tells of a man who will save you from the Joker with the help of a 'Queen' or is a man who is called a 'King'", or so it says."

"That's stupid." I say, though seriously, I was worried about the 'trick slathered in honey'.

"You're right," Harry says, "Let's just pretend we're doing this."

"Yeah," I suddenly got an idea, "Hey, how about we play Blackjack?"

"What's that?" Ginny asks.

"It's a muggle gambling game," I reply, "I hear we're going to Hogsmeade soon, so won't this be a great way to get money and pass off time in Divination?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kale says, "Plus, the game has each player get two cards so we can pass off as reading each other's future."

"But we didn't bring any money." Ginny says.

"Just write down what we owe and who owes us, and we'll collect in the common room later." I say.

Ron speaks up, "Let's do it! I can't stand another minute of this class! At least I can get something out of this!"

I start to explain the rules of Blackjack to Harry, Ginny and Ron.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"Blackjack!" Ron says triumphantly, showing us his cards.

"Ugh, Ron?" Kale says, "That adds to twenty, not twenty-one."

"No!" Ron exclaims, counting his cards again. "Oh, Merlin!"

I laugh at his antics and put down my cards, "Twenty-one."

"What?!" Ron exclaims looking at my pair, a King and an Ace of hearts. "Hey, that adds to eleven!"

I roll my eyes, "Ron, you twit, the Ace can be one or eleven."

"Ugh!" Ron says, pouting, "I bet a third of my money on this round!"

"Yeah, well too bad." I say, starting to list down what he owed me, which was previously one Galleon, three Sickles and ten Knuts.

"Wait, Alisa." Harry says, smiling slyly, "Twenty-one."

I blink and see that his cards do, in fact, add to twenty one 'cause he has an ace, a two, and two nines.

"Darn." I say, "Now he only owes me Two Galleons, four Sickles and eleven Knuts!"

He smiles as I pout. "Oh, don't be a downer; you won three rounds in a row! I owe you… one Galleon and sixteen Sickles!"

I roll my eyes and say, "Yeah, yeah."

Nico suddenly runs through the door, slightly frazzled and stomps up to us. "Dammit, why didn't you guys wake me?!"

"Mr. di Angelo," Trelawney says, lacking her usual rasp, "It is not helpful to the Inner Eye if you use such vulgar words."

Nico looked at her and shrugged, "Er… sorry?"

Trelawney looked... er, what was it... oh, "miffed", but Nico just shrugged it off and dropped onto the chair Rachel sat in.

"What the heck are you guys doing anyway?" he asks as Trelawney walks to another table.

"Some stupid muggle game of cards." Ron says.

I roll my eyes saying, "Don't be such a spoil-sport Ronnie-kins. We're playing Blackjack. Wanna play?"

"Don't." Ron warns, "She'll take you for everything your worth."

"Aw, c'mon, join us." I say innocently.

"Alright..." he says, "So... how do you do this?"

After a few minutes of explaining, I start re-shuffling the two decks.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"Again?" Nico asks, exasperated.

"Yep," I say, grinning, "That makes... four Galleons, ten Sickles and eight Knuts. Another round?"

"Your tapping me out!" he says, chin on table, looking up at me with big eyes.

I grab his cheek, "Aw, come on, Nickie."

Cocking an eyebrow, he says, "Alright, but I already lost enough cash." He grins slyly and looks at me intently, "If I win against you, I get all my money back, you win, I double it."

I smirk, "Challenge accepted."

"Fine." he says, "Don't be too hard on me now, Lizzie."

I roll my eyes to hide the heat creeping up and started dealing.

I place one card face down and the other face up.

"Wait." Nico says.

"What," I say tauntingly, "You backing out? Scared?"

"How about something a little more interesting?" he says. "Your open card is an ace right?"

"Yeah..." I say, "And?"

"If I get a Blackjack," he says calmly, "You return my money and I have you all to myself when we go to Hogsmeade. But only if I get a Blackjack. If I don't, and I still lose, I'll triple my money."

My turn to cock an eyebrow, "You sure about this, di Angelo? There's only eight aces in the entire thing, and I've got one. Plus, about thirty percent of the thing is a ten, if I get one, you lose or you draw."

He grins lightly, "I'm sure."

"Your debt." I say, waving for Ron to make his move.

Nico grins lightly until it's his turn, "Well, Hellboy, you gonna look at your cards?" I say, getting slightly pissed at his confident smile. What's up with him? How can he be so confident?

He flips a card, a king of diamonds.

"Getting nervous, Lizzie?" he asks, fingering the other card.

I snort, "You should be the nervous one, Nickie, There's no chance that that is an-."

I'm cut off with disbelief as he turns over an ace of hearts.

"No. Way." I say. "Wait, wait. You only win if I don't have a Blackjack too."

"Well, turn over the card then, Lizzie." he says, still wearing that confident grin.

I turn the card over. Nine. I grimace.

Nico smiles brightly, "Well, I win. There was barely any chance that was a ten anyway. After all, if I was right, then there would've been only this one king left in what's left of the stack."

I glare at him, comprehension dawning, "You counted the cards."

"Yep." he says, grinning evilly at me.

"You knew how to play all along." I say, glaring harder.

"Yep." he says, in a cheerful tone.

"You tricked me." I say, a little surprised at his happy expression. If the Nico I knew then and got to know a few weeks ago still exists, then everyone would know he's not exactly a happy person.

"Well, not really, Starshine, I had to make sure you had the same rules I was used to." he explains.

"How'd you get so good anyway?" I ask him.

"You learn a lot from living in the streets." He says, a bit of that bright cheerfulness wilting away, "One of them is earning money fast, without traces."

"Oh..." I say, understanding a bit. Our teasing atmosphere evaporating.

"Yeah... Well, I'll see you at Hogsmeade!" He says, changing the subject and standing up to leave just as Trelawney marks the end of the class.

I stand there, speechless as he rushes quickly out the door.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"Ooooh," Jiana says, grabbing my arm, "I hear someone's got a date to Hogsmeade!"

"It's not a date, Jia." I say, rolling my eyes for the umpteenth time today. "It's just two friends hanging out."

She raises an eyebrow, "On the Valentine's trip to Hogsmeade?"

"With the fact that the boy likes still standing?" Ginny says.

I blink for a few seconds. "V-v-valentine's trip?"

"Uh, duh?" Jiana says.

I shake my head, "Still not a date."

"Is your head screwed on to tight, Ali?" Jia asks, "A guy, who was constantly at your side when you were asleep for a month, asks you to be with him all day on a Valentine's trip? Not a date?"

I say nothing.

"See?" Jia says, "Now, what do you want us to do? Help you get out of this or help you look good for your not-date date."

I look into Jia's sharp Ravenclaw eyes, "I can't lie to you guys."

The two girls look at me expectantly.

"Go on."

And there are the squeals.

A/N: Two Thousand and Fifty-Eight Words. My Make-Up-To-My-Readers-SLASH-Twentieth-Chapter-Celebration chapter (Yes, redundant). It's part one of two (or three) and it'll be the arc that most of you are waiting for! Review~ Nyx