A/N: Hey there, I'm back again, sorry for the delay but many things happened and it would take too long to talk about here. So anyway, the cookies in this chapter are for:

1eragon33

Book Freak

Wolfman613

Lottie T

Guest

For Random Chick's Pen, the story is set before son of Neptune but after The lost Hero.

Chapter 4

Disclaimer all rights go to J.K Rowling

It seemed like the journey would never end, but eventually, about 2 hours after Frank had jolted awake from his fitful sleep, the plane landed gently on the runway of Heathrow airport. For the Roman, it had come not a moment too soon, as t stopped him from brooding over the memories of the quest he had been assigned alongside the two girls who were now stepping off into the light drizzle of the London afternoon. It should probably be hard to believe that another world was out there, one with real life witches and wizards, but for him, it really wasn't, though that probably had something to do with the way he was coming from a world of the old Roman gods. Speaking of which…

Craning his head around to look at all the passengers who had disembarked and were now passing through the luggage climb with his little group, the demigod tried his hardest to catch a glimpse of the blond haired boy from the plain. He was sure that the boy had said Jupiter, but that made no sense at all. He was sure that people didn't use the names of the gods as curse words, but there was no way he could be any more than a mortal could he?

Aside from the boy, there was also his two companions, the boy that seemed to be scared out of his wits before he fell into a kind of trance or something in his seat. Frank would have sworn that the boy was dead if he hadn't been able to see his breathing when he looked round. There was something vaguely familiar about that boy, but he had not been able to see the kids face, so he couldn't know for sure if they had ever met before.

And finally, there was the girl. The one with the wild eyes and hair that was strangely too dark to be natural. But they were the only things he had been able to tell about her as she had only looked up for a second before she went back to looking through her large book with an enthusiasm that looked nearly dangerous. There was something about that girl that scared the Roman for some reason, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Frank would have liked to think more about this strange feeling, but before he could really wonder about this anymore, he was jolted from his thoughts by Hazel grabbing his arm and yanking him down the stairs rather unceremoniously. When her tiny hands locked around his arms, the Roman felt a small jolt pass through his blood stream, but he forced himself not to think about it, it would not help to start mooning after this particular girl, especially as her, literally, creepy as hell older brother Nico was around back at camp.

The three demigods allowed the crowd to push them around the airport for a bit, not too sure where they were supposed to be going, after all, Lupa's instructions were not exactly clear for this point. She had only said that there would be someone waiting to pick them up from where they touched down, but she hadn't said where he would be waiting for them. It was really confusing, and the large, echoing sounds of the tiled halls were beginning to give Frank a headache when he suddenly looked round and spotted a rather grizzled man with unkempt grey-ish hair and a gnarled wooden leg.

Ordinarily, the demigods would not have gone near such a suspicious looking person, after all, his whole countenance screamed DANGER but he was also holding a cardboard sign with words lettered in Latin. The message would probably have been unintelligible to all the other passengers in the terminal, but to the three teens, it made perfect sense.

Reyna, Hazel, and Frank, WELCOME CHILDREN OF ROME.

After exchanging a cautious glance to their leader, and a terse nod from a strangely nervous looking Reyna, they began to pick their way through the crowd towards the man with the sign.

Frank had been sure that the stranger could not have looked all that bad as he had seemed to from the distance, but, as they drew closer, the three of them could just begin to make out the deep gauges and the scars that marred the man's face. There was a thick strap that could quite possibly belong to an eye patch, disappearing around the back of his head, hidden underneath an old bowler hat and… was he missing a chunk of his nose? Repressing a small shudder, Frank pushed his way closer, trying to keep up with the girls that were forging their way ahead, seemingly unfazed.

"Are you the Halflings?" his voice was gruff, but stern. Without really thinking about it the three demigods nodded instinctively, subconsciously recognizing the authority of a veteran warrior in his tone of voice. "For security measures I have to check if it's you. What army was Frank's mother in?"

The question came as a shock to the Canadian, making him instantly rile against the stranger who seemed to have such an in depth knowledge of their backgrounds, but, catching his Praetor's vicious glare, he spit the answer out through his teeth.

"Canadian forces, in Afghanistan."

The man nodded and seemed to relax a fraction, though he was still clearly tense, it was becoming obvious that this man was never one to let his guard down, that was probably why Reyna was showing him such respect, after all, that was what she was always telling them, to be on their toes at all times when they were out in the mortal world.

"My name's Alastor Moody. It's my job's to get you to headquarters safely. These are dangerous times. We don't want you killed. CONSTANT VILLIGANCE!"

He looked at them closely, raising one wild eyebrow when only Frank jumped. To be honest, that was not really surprising, Hazel was used to her brother suddenly popping out of the shadows at any possible moment in time without any warning, and Reyna was just… well Reyna. With a smirk, the latter offered her hand to Moody, it was clear that she was finding this whole situation amusing.

"I assure you," she stated, "we are more than capable of protecting ourselves."

At her small signal, a minute wave of her left hand, Hazel and Frank pulled out the daggers hidden inside their jackets, letting the gold glitter in the fluorescent lighting for a second before allowing the weapons to fall back into their hiding places. For his credit, Moody seemed completely unfazed, if a tiny bit impressed, and gestured for them to follow him as he set off towards one of the nearby exits. When they were out in the alleyway out back, he turned back to face them once again.

"We're going to apparate. Grab hold of my arm."

Frank didn't really understand what the man had just said, but, not wanting to look like a wimp next to the two girls who had just latched onto the wizard's arm, he reached forwards, tentatively laying his hand on the scruffy coat, through which he could feel lean muscles that would make the Mars kids back at camp green with envy.

Afterwards, the three of them would not be able to tell anyone what had happened, all they knew was that, one second, they were gathered in the alley way behind the airport, and the next, they seemed to be getting forced through tube as the world dissolved and swirled around them. After a few moments, the surroundings solidified once again, but they were not the ones that had been there before, instead, they seemed to be in a rundown suburb, where the houses seemed to be in great need of repair.

Glancing around the gothic structures, Frank counted the numbers, 10, 11, 13…

For a second, the son of Mars froze, sure that he had read the signs wrong, but, when he went back for another look, it was the exact same, number 12 was missing completely. All the while the three teens puzzled over the mystery of the missing numbers, Moody had been fishing through his pockets. With a grunt, he pulled out a folded slip of paper and passed it to the demigods.

"Read this."

Crowding around the paper in Reyna's hand, Frank squinted down at the spidery paper. At first, the green script was murder to his dyslexic eyes but after a while, he managed to make at least a little sense of the chicken scratch.

I AUBLS DLMOUEDBR SCERET KEPER OF NMUBER 12 GRMILUAD PLCAE GRNAT PEMISRION TO ENETR THE PERMSIES.

"Think about that," Moody growled to them, a slightly strange note in his voice, almost like he was finding this funny, but that was impossible for such a man right?

Looking up to check if his suspicions were correct, Frank was soon distracted by the sight of a new house that had just, apparently, popped out of the ground Now the amusement was clear in his voice.

"Welcome, to number 12 Grimlaud place."

OoOoOoOoO

Nico took a deep breath when he stepped out on the tarmac, glad to have his feet back on solid ground once again. No way was he ever going to do that again, when it was time to go back home, he was going to shadow travel, no matter what the others said, or if he was going to go into a coma at the end, there was nothing in this world, or the next, that was ever going to get him back on one of these demented metal birds.

Quickly, the three of them slipped off of the run way. Chiron had said that there would be someone waiting for them at the baggage claim, so they grabbed their cases as soon as they first appeared and were away before most of the other people from their flight had actually reached the luggage claim.

After a quick glance around the crowded room they had arrived in, Nico's eyes landed on a man with bright red hair who was looking around himself with a sort of suppressed excitement, and wide eyed wonder. It was rather amusing really, to see a grown man act like a small child. The son of Hades couldn't help but think that there might be something mentally wrong with him… he was brought back to reality when Lou reached over and punched him in the arm, gesturing violently at the ginger weirdo.

"I think that's our man," She said quietly, glaring at Nico as though she knew what was going on inside his head, though, knowing the daughter of Hecate, she probably could. "Most magical folk are extremely ignorant of the non magic world."

Okay, well that made him feel a little bad, but he wasn't going to show it, especially as they were now walking towards said wizard, looking around themselves nervously just in case they would have to protect themselves from a sudden attack. As they drew closer, they could make out a sign in his hands written in ancient Greek. Yes, this was their man. Clearing his throat, Jason stepped forwards, holding his hand out in a polite, though cold manner.

"Excuse me, we're the American exchange students to Hogwarts." he prompted. The man smiled, looking a little bit bemused as though he had just been brought back down to earth suddenly, and was having some trouble remembering where he was.

"Ah yes! My names Arthur Weasley and you are?"

"Nico Di Angelo"

"Lou Ellen"

"Jason Grace"

When each of them spoke, he looked at them intensely, nodding at their words as though he was making a mental note so that he would not forget in the future. Once they had done, he shot them a warm smile that seemed to light up his entire face in a gentle way, making him look 20 years younger.

"Pleasure, well we must be on our way, it's unwise to linger in these troubled times. Here if you could grab a hold of my arm," the demigods did as he asked. Mr. Weasley turned on the spot, and the demigods were sucked into darkness.

Beta: Oooh, the demigods are all going to be in one place, I wonder what happens *evil grin* Still, I have a question for you again my pretties:

In The Chamber of secrets, what animal did Ron say he would prefer to have to follow instead of the spiders?