Annabeth huffed as she came to a stop in front of the coffee shop, feeling a stitch in her side. She checked her watch and moaned a little, seeing how late it was. She pushed through the door and scanned the room until she spotted the familiar spiky black hair. She made her way over, sliding through the throng of customers until she sat down with a dramatic sigh.

"Ah, she arrives," Thalia grinned. "We were wondering if you would ever make it."

"Yeah, we were thinking we were going to have to go and rescue you," Luke added, making Annabeth flush a little at the thought.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. My stepmom made me clean up after my stupid stepbrothers and then my dad wouldn't drive me here so I had to take the bus instead." She slumped in her chair.

"Sorry kiddo," Luke said. "But, hey just a little longer and then you'll be free of them and living with your own kind."

"Yeah," Annabeth grinned at the thought. Her own kind. People her age, learning about the magical world and their place in it. She couldn't wait to board the train and see Hogwarts for the first time. To walk among the castle halls and study spells and enchantments. To finally be free of her family and find out where she belonged.

"You're not the only one who can hardly wait to go back," Thalia said dryly and Annabeth gave her a sympathetic look. Her own family relationships were bad enough but she knew Thalia's were worse. She lived with her father and stepmother in the Grace mansion half the time and the other half with her real mother. And she hated both. Her father barely noticed her, not particularly caring, and her stepmother loathed her. Or, more accurately, what she represented which was the fling her father had. And as for Thalia's actual mother, well Annabeth had heard enough stories to know why Thalia barely spent time there at all. Her only bright spot was her half-brother Jason, who her father and stepmother regarded as the golden child. Annabeth had met him a few times. He was a pretty nice guy. A little too serious at times and a little too much of a rule-follower, but he was always nice to her and Luke and he did love Thalia.

"No kidding," Luke muttered. Annabeth didn't know much about his family history. All she did know was that his father was out of the picture and something really bad happened to his mother. And judging by his hatred of muggles, she figured it had something to do with them.

"Uh…so how's Jason?" she asked in an effort to change the subject. "He must be excited to start too."

"Oh yeah," Thalia nodded. "He doesn't always show it, but he wants out of that house as much as I do. He's currently off with his friends, Reyna, Gwen, and Dakota. My parents are planning on taking him to Diagon Alley and going all out. They're even planning on getting him that new broom that everyone's going crazy over."

"The Nimbus 2000?" Annabeth gaped. "Oh that's so not fair. I want that."

Thalia smirked. "You know first-years can't fly, right? I can get the broom for you but you'd have to wait til next year to use it. And by then, they'll already have like the Nimbus 2001 or something available."

"Yeah, I know. Still, it would be really cool."

"They should totally let you fly, Beth," Luke said. "I've seen you in the air. You're a natural. You'd knock everyone else off their brooms."

Annabeth felt herself begin to blush again and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thanks Luke. That means a lot."

"Hey, just saying the truth. Man, I serious just cannot wait to go back and see everyone again. I even miss Binns, if that was possible."

Thalia snorted and Annabeth chuckled a little. She'd heard enough about Mr. Binns to understand the reaction.

"And hey, you're starting your elective courses this year," Luke said to Thalia. "What are you thinking of?"

"Oh, I don't know. None of them sound that interesting except Care of Magical Creatures."

"Just ignore Muggle Studies. Total waste of time."

"I bet you're glad you get to cut back on your own classes now."

"Oh you bet. Though I've heard it's just because the classes I do have are even harder. So that's something to look forward to."

As they talked, Annabeth couldn't help but feel her spirits sink a little. As close as they were, she couldn't share with them the experiences of Hogwarts. And even then, you couldn't help but notice the large age gap. Luke was entering his sixth year now while Thalia was entering her third. It was amazing that they were as close as they were and that had only come from an accidental coincidence when they had run away from their homes and been caught by the Magical Law Enforcement at the same time, spending some time together in the same room before their parents arrived. That was where they formed an unbreakable bond. Their families didn't really want them, so they'd form their own family, one made of something far stronger than blood. Still, it was times like this when Luke and Thalia were gabbing about Hogwarts and their time there that Annabeth felt left out. But fortunately, that wouldn't be the case for long.

"Hey, let's get out of here," Luke said, shaking Annabeth out of her thoughts. "It's getting a little crowded anyway." He wrinkled his nose as he said that. "And I know of something fun we can do."

They all got up and walked out, moving down the sidewalk as cars honked and passed them by.

"Ugh, all this noise," Luke muttered. "This is why I prefer my place at Diagon Alley." He had turned seventeen recently and thus, in the Wizard World, was eligible for living alone. He was entering sixth year though because he had been held back from going to Hogwarts when he was eleven due to some incident. Annabeth wasn't entirely sure but she thought it had something to do with his mother.

"So what are we doing, Lukey boy?" Thalia asked.

"I told you not to call me that," he said in a sing-song voice. "And I'll tell you when we get there."

Annabeth winced as a particularly loud motorcycle passed them by. She had to agree with Luke. She currently wasn't going to miss the traffic noise at Hogwarts. In fact, there really wasn't much she would miss when she finally did go to Hogwarts. Not her home, not her family, certainly not the Muggle school her parents forced her to attend. The only thing she could say she would miss were movies. The Wizarding World didn't have them and they were great fun, though Luke always found some sort of flaw.

"Here we are," he said, coming to a stop. Annabeth looked up and frowned in confusion. It was a convenience store, maybe one of about a million scattered throughout the city.

"Uh…ok," Thalia said, equally as confused. "Pray tell, what is so important about this particular convenience store."

"Oh nothing," Luke replied. "I was just looking for the nearest one."

"Ok. Is there something in particular you wanted to buy or…"

"No, no, not buy." A sly smile spread across Luke's face. "No, we're going to rob it."

Annabeth gaped at him, thinking she had misheard, while Thalia just laughed. After a few seconds, she realized no one else was laughing. "Wait, you're serious?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Luke said.

"No, we…we can't do that Luke, that's not ok," Annabeth told him.

"She's right, Luke."

"Why not? We did it all the time when we ran away. And it's just a Muggle."

"We did that when we were desperate," Thalia pointed out. "Not for fun." Annabeth nodded. She had never stolen from any store unless she was truly hungry back then.

"Speak for yourself. And didn't you rob those guys who made fun of your shirt the other day?"

Thalia glared at him. "I didn't rob them, I pickpocketed them. There's a difference."

"Not much."

"And they totally deserved it. Nothing wrong with a Death to Barbie t-shirt."

"Ok, so we're not going to really rob it," Luke said. "We're just going to shoplift a few items. Some sweets, maybe a few crisps, that sort of thing."

Annabeth let off a soft sigh. That wasn't too bad. Besides, the way Luke said it did make it sound exciting. She'd heard kids her age did it all the time. And even Thalia bobbed her head to the side, mulling it over. "Alright, I can get behind that."

"Cool. Now let's do this," Luke grinned, clapping his hands together in excitement.

They all entered the store, a slight ding going off as they did so. Annabeth immediately went over to the sweets rack, looking them over. She didn't take any of them, not yet anyway. The shop owner had glanced her way. Any sudden movement would draw his attention. She had to wait.

A minute later, her opportunity came when someone else entered the store. The owner looked up and Annabeth instantly moved, scooping up a Milky Way and pocketing it before walking away, hiding a smile as she did so. She had to admit, there was something fun about this. The thrill of it.

She spotted Thalia among the crisps aisle and Luke subtly pocketing some sort of can. He then made a motion for Thalia to walk towards the door. It would be too suspicious for them to leave at the same time. She nodded and headed towards the exit, still looking around the store as if browsing but had a disinterested look on her face so that anyone looking at her would think she couldn't find something she wanted. A second later, she walked out the store with the owner barely batting an eye. As she did, using the distraction of the dinging bell, Annabeth grabbed another chocolate bar, smiling a bit more as she did so. This really was fun. She was glad Luke had talked them into it.

A couple minutes later, Luke made the signal at her and she walked towards the exit, putting the same disinterested expression on her face that Thalia had. This was going so much better than the first time she had tried shoplifting. She had been so nervous and so obvious that the owner could have spotted her as a thief from miles away, throwing her out. But this time, she had it in the bag.

She made it to the door, reaching for the handle while taking one last look around as if to see if there was anything worth buying. And just as she did, the door suddenly burst open as several rowdy teenagers came barging in, laughing. The door slammed into her, knocking her back and causing her to lose her grip on the chocolate bar. It hit the ground with a thunk that seemed to echo across the store.

Annabeth didn't move, paralyzed. Then she made a run for the door.

"Hey!" She didn't know how the owner had moved so fast, but the next instant his hand was gripped around her arm, nails digging into her. "Were you stealing?"

"Let go of me!" she said, struggling.

"That's it, I'm calling the cops. They can deal with you."

"Ow, you're hurting me!"

"You're lucky that's all I'm doing, you little-"

BANG!

The next thing Annabeth knew, she was on the ground, shaking her head to get rid of the loud ringing in her ears. She looked up and gaped. The store owner was lying several feet away from her, looking like he had been flung into the counter, his head lolled to the side. The teenagers were all staring and Annabeth followed their gaze to Luke's outstretched wand, a fierce expression on his face. He leaned down and helped Annabeth up. "You ok?" he asked urgently.

"Ummm…"

"Come on, we have to go," he said, pushing his way towards the door. Before he made it, it opened and Thalia rushed in.

"What happened?" she asked. Then she saw the store owner and Luke's wand. "What did you do?"

"Move!" he yelled and practically shoved her out the door again. Then they all started running down the street as fast as they could.

"What did you do?" Thalia asked again.

"Can this wait?" he replied.

"You used magic! On a Muggle!"

"I know what I did!" he snapped.

"Do you know what that means?"

Annabeth did. She knew the laws of the Wizarding World by heart. She knew how much trouble they were in.

"We were seen," she moaned.

"It will be fine," Luke told her. "I'm seventeen, so I don't have the Trace on me. They can't prove anything."

"Luke," Thalia stared at him hard as they ran, "the Trace picks up magic around any underage witches or wizards. Like me."

Luke came to a sudden stop, eyes wide. "Ah shit," he muttered.

As if on cue, there was a loud CRACK! It was a noise Annabeth didn't recognize but Luke and Thalia obviously did. But even if she didn't recognize the noise, she did recognize the people emerging from a nearby alleyway in long cloaks and bowler hats.

"Oh, bloody hell," Luke muttered.

"Magical Law Enforcement," Annabeth moaned. They were in so much trouble.

Suddenly, there was a loud WHOOP! They all turned and saw a police car coming to a stop in front of them.

So much trouble.

Hope you liked the two chapter special here. And I hope you're all enoying how I'm integrating these two worlds together cause it's been really fun. I have finished all the chapters of Percy and Annabeth pre-Hogwarts now and am working on the Ron and Hermione ones. Then I should be able to start releasing this story more periodically. Until then, hope you like these sneak peeks and thanks for reading.