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Why do they belong together?

She was the only person he chose to go home to Godric's Hollow with-and she put flowers on his parents' grave.

It's amazing how situations can just… walk up on you when you're not looking. Literally. But when they're girls a year younger than you, it's a little more understandable.

"Are you and Ron ever going to be friends again?" A quiet voice asked.

I nearly fell out of my chair in surprise.

Ginny giggled a little, though she quieted when I recovered.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "He was the one who decided not to be." Ginny was quiet. I couldn't remember the last time she had actually started a conversation with me. Or the first time.

"Because you fancy Hermione." Ginny said. I nodded. "I saw you two snogging the other day." She added. I cringed inwardly, remembering how Ginny had had a crush on me since we met outside Platform 9 ¾, according to Ron. This was not what I wanted to deal with right now… I was supposed to be finding a charm for the task. Hermione wanted to find out more about the two Americans. I didn't want to hurt Ginny's feelings, but she deserved straight-forwardness.

"Would you still like to be friends?" I asked honestly. "Ron and I might not be friends, but you and your family are pretty great." She smiled, looking surprised.

"You think we're great?" She asked. "Even though we… well, don't have much money."

"That really bothers Ron." I commented. It gnawed at me, making me think of things I didn't want to remember right now. "He feels lousy when he's reminded how much my parents left me."

"He's jealous." Ginny looked over at the other wall, like she was counting the books. "I… I am too. We have secondhand everything... books, cloaks, wands. I hate it."

"Family is worth more than money." I said. "A lot more." Ginny nodded..

"I guess so." She agreed. A smile flickered on her lips. "Well, I'd trade Ron for ten galleons right about now—" We both burst out laughing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One day to the second task, I wasn't in a very good mood. Nor was Hermione.

"There has to be something here." She insisted, scanning more pages. "They've never made an undoable task."

"Maybe not, but I still don't see anyway to do it." I sighed.

"Oh, there's always a way, for those clever enough to find it." A girl's voice said. We turned to see the two Americans standing at the end of the aisle. The girl was spinning a baseball cap around in her hand.

"You went asking about us." The boy said, nodding at Hermione. She looked irate at the intrusion.

"Yes. Dumbledore didn't have much to say." She retorted. He looked pleased.

"I'm Percy, by the way." He added. "Harry and Hermione, right?" I nodded.

"So you don't know how to complete the second task yet?" Annabeth asked. I still felt like she was trying to analyze us.

"Well spotted." Hermione said curtly, returning to her book. Neither of us felt up to investigating who those two were at the time. I think Hermione was almost as nervous about the second task as me.

"Can you perform a bubble-head charm?" Percy asked. We both looked at him.

"A bubble-head charm?" I repeated. "No. Can you?"

"Percy saw the French champion using it in the lake." Annabeth said before Percy could reply. "And that scarred professor with the fake leg, I heard him asking your head of house if you had been taught about gillyweed yet. He thought it'd be a great way for you to do the task."

"Gillyweed?" Hermione gave them a look. "What does it do?"

"No clue." Annabeth said offhandedly.

"Gillyweed?" Neville suddenly appeared behind the Americans as though the word was a summoning charm. "I thought I heard someone mention it." They looked at him but didn't say anything.

"Do you know what it is?" I asked. He nodded eagerly.

"It's a transformation plant." Neville explained eagerly. "It was in that book Professor Moody gave me. You eat it, and it transforms you into a merman. Gills, webbed feet, hands. Only lasts an hour or so, though." When he mentioned Professor Moody, Annabeth tensed and looked to Percy. I wasn't sure why.

"Do you know where we could find some, Neville?" Hermione asked. He nodded again.

"There's some in the greenhouse. Want me to get you some?" He said.

"That would be brilliant, if you could." I said gratefully.

"Sure thing!" He took off. The Americans were giving each other looks.

"That was a little convenient." Percy said wryly. Hermione smiled a little.

"So where are you two from?" She asked. "I don't know a lot of about magical schools in America."

"Our school isn't so much like this place." Annabeth explained. "It's more of a training camp. You can choose to go year round, or just in the summer."

"Why would anyone just go during the summer?" I asked, amazed.

"We still have to work on our education." Percy shrugged. "Get a diploma, go to college. But some have to stay there all year, because they don't have anywhere else to go, or it might be too dangerous for them outside of camp. It's surrounded by strong magic that keeps out enemies."

"So when summer gets here, you go back to training camp?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Annabeth said. "I guess you two head home, right?"

"Not this year." I grinned. "I normally live with my muggle uncle during the summer, but it's absolutely horrid. Hermione's parents are letting me stay with them."

"I had a mortal step-dad like that, for a long time." Percy looked sympathetic. "Complete jerk, spent all his time drinking beer and treating my mom horribly. She finally dealt with him a couple years ago."

"What happened?" Hermione asked. Percy hesitated, and you could see him trying to decide what to say. "Died of his gluttony." Percy said casually. "I put a monster in the refrigerator, chained it shut, and left a note on it saying to not open it under any circumstances. He was outraged, bashed it open to get a beer, and it got him."

Hermione and I shared a slightly unsure look, like we didn't know whether to laugh or be horrified. Annabeth just looked curious.

"Was this after our first quest?" She asked.

"Yeah, the thing we got from Aunty Em's…" He said quietly. "My dad mailed it back."

"You killed him?" Hermione looked shocked.

"He hit my mom when I wasn't around." Percy didn't back down. "I did chain the fridge shut, and put a note on it saying to never open it. If that giant guy who takes care of the animals here—"

"Hagrid." Hermione and I chimed in.

"—if Hagrid had a monster locked in cage with a note on it saying to never open it, would you blame him if someone was dumb enough to break it open and got killed by it?" Percy asked.

"I guess you have a point." Hermione admitted reluctantly. "Most people would have been smart enough to leave it alone."

"Anyway, you two are all set for the task, right? We've got plans for the evening." Annabeth said brightly. She didn't seem very put off by the talk of monsters and people dying.

"Get gillyweed from Neville." I nodded. "Where're you going?"

"Hogsmeade." Percy said cheerfully. "Everyone says it's amazing."

"But it's not a Hogsmeade weekend for another week." Hermione said. We knew the date, because we were planning to see Sirius. "Students are only allowed off Hogwarts grounds on those weekends."

"We're allowed free roam." Annabeth smiled. "You two take care."

"And good luck!" Percy added as they left.

Hermione was silent for a few moments, then let out a groan.

"What?"

"We still don't know where they're from or why they're here."