"You're Annabeth!" Harry announced in surprise.
Annabeth laughed fondly. "That's me. You must be the famous Harry Potter!"
Harry oddly paled, yet still looked embarrassed, and he stuttered something incoherent. This time I joined in with Annabeth's mirthful laughter.
"Percy talks about you a lot you know," Annabeth said to him with a smile. Harry let out a small breath before I gained a tomato for a cousin. "It's nice to finally meet you. Wish I could've visited last summer, but I promised my dad I'd spend time with him before college."
"No worries. Glad to meet you too. Though, with the number of photographs and stories Percy has told me, I'm afraid I may know an unhealthy amount of information before I've even had a proper conversation with you."
That was when Annabeth got that gleam in her eye that told me to hide under a pillow before I died of embarrassment.
"Great! Now I can spill even more of Percy's fails, some even better than Sally's stories!"
"Ughhhhhh," I dramatically groaned, plopping myself on the couch, pillow in hand.
* * *
Soon it was dinner time, and luckily, it went off without a hitch. Harry didn't get sick. Monsters didn't attack. Annabeth refrained from telling even more embarrassing stories. And Paul didn't burn anything, so the food tasted amazing. We had lighthearted conversation and laughed our asses off to the point that I literally fell off my chair. I mean, Harry did push me off, but whatever. Semantics.
But just as dessert was coming to a close, it all went south. Mom mentioned Nico di Angelo—one of my cousins, son of Hades—at which point Harry started hyperventilating. Ok, it wasn't Nico he was freaking out about. My best guess, it was the location we were discussing. A graveyard.
Mom asked what Nico had been doing over the summer, and I said, "a certain ray of sunshine was keeping him away from graveyards." Annabeth then made a comment about never knowing what could happen at a graveyard. She was talking about the time I shrieked when a bunny hopped out of a bush. I was bringing Nico a Happy Meal and the scare sent me tumbling over a tombstone. Which, of course, meant a McFlurry was spilled all over my shirt.
For some reason—graveyard or not—Harry got a panic attack. In his disoriented state, he accidentally knocked over a glass pitcher of water and cut himself on the broken pieces when he fell down onto his hands and knees. Harry was desperately trying to calm down and catch his breath.
The sudden episode startled all of us. I reached down to help him off the shards of glass but he seemed to freak out more. Annabeth was more successful in her attempts. She grabbed a towel and laid it across the floor before slowly approaching and gently guiding Harry out of harm's way. Mom swiftly put him to bed but stayed by his side even after he drifted off into sleep.
The events of that night frightened me. I knew it was a panic attack. I'd seen panic attacks before. I'd had panic attacks before. I knew how to handle them more or less, but when I saw the haunted and fearful look in my cousin's eyes... I was lost. I forgot everything and was overwhelmed with worry. I barely stayed calm. I didn't try the grounding techniques Will Solace, son of Apollo, taught us at camp. I hardly moved as Annabeth helped him through it. Instead, I froze. I just froze.
After thanking the gods for Annabeth and her brilliant mind, I thanked her too. She assured me he would be fine, but I felt like this was just the beginning. There was something I was missing, something he wouldn't tell us. Not that I could blame him for keeping secrets when I was doing the exact same thing. Regardless, he needed help and I was prepared to do anything so I wouldn't see the light slip from his eyes again.
In the middle of the night, guilt for being useless in my cousin's time of need weighed down on my chest. So did Annabeth's head, but that was never a bother. (1) Yes, we were sleeping in the same bed. (2) No, we did not participate in promiscuous activities. My parents were just down the hall for the gods' sakes!
Anyway, I gingerly placed my Wise Girl's head onto the pillow and slipped out of the room without a sound. I didn't want to enter Harry's room and chance on waking him, so I simply sat outside his door to make sure he would be safe. Though, I suspect it was more for my benefit than his. It granted me some peace of mind, which was better than nothing but didn't rid me of the overbearing guilt I felt.
* * *
The next morning, I awoke to a poke in the ribs. I grumbled something incoherent, which just earned me a harder poke in the ribs. I opened my eyes to glare at my human alarm clock, but the sleep still clouding them ruined the effect. A second later, they shot wide open as I realized it was Harry who poked me awake.
"Harry! What are you doing up? What time is it? Are you ok? Is Mom making breakfast? Why am I on the floor? Oh, right. Never mind. Are you ok?"
Harry laughed at me as my mind went a thousand miles a minute. At least the happiness was back, but it wasn't as lively as last summer.
"I just woke up to find a human barricade outside my door. Nearly tripped over you and went arse over tits."
"That's a weird expression."
"Your face is a weird expression," he retorted.
I couldn't have been prouder of the sass he showed. He would be pissing off people stronger than him in no time. I figured I should probably teach him some basic defense if my sass was going to rub off so easily.
Anyway, ignoring my faux indignation, he said, "And to answer your questions, I can smell Aunt Sally's pancakes and I'm fine. Really."
I gave him a disbelieving look but didn't press further. We'd talk when he was ready. Or when my pestering got too annoying for him. Whichever came first.
"Are you boys going to hang out on the floor all day, or are you going to come to breakfast?" Annabeth questioned with a raised eyebrow.
It would've been intimidating had her hair not looked like a rat's nest. But to me, she was still beautiful. I smiled and stood up for a good morning kiss, which was immediately shot down.
"Nah ah. You have horrible morning breath. You're going to need to brush if you want a kiss."
Then she walked into the kitchen as she pulled her hair into what she informed me was a "messy bun." Harry and I just shrugged, got up, and followed her to breakfast, both of us wondering what this summer would bring.
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Fanfiction[Completed] Harry Potter's world turned upside down. He no longer had to spend lonely summers at the Dursley's. In fact, he would never again spend his summers at the Dursley's. But was that a good thing? It meant leaving his friends, people he cons...
