Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 7

It was a warm Saturday afternoon, something that would soon become a commodity in the coming months. Such treasures should be well... treasured. So, a picnic was in order.

On the banks of the Black Lake, Annabeth and Percy sat beside each other, and across from them were Grover and Juniper. The Stolls were tinkering with something near the water and the other four collectively hoped nothing caught on fire.

Grover had finished eating quickly and dragged a laughing Juniper with him to the water. She plopped the sandwich she was eating in her mouth and jumped on his back. Everyone watched, laughing as Grover jumped into the water with her. The Stolls quickly followed, teaming up to splash the couple.

Percy stood up, not wanting to miss out on the fun and looked at Annabeth. He rolled his eyes when he saw she had a book open in her lap but then his gaze softened. Annabeth was staring out at the lake watching their friends play in the water.

"You coming?" Percy asked.

"No, you go on ahead," Annabeth replied with slight trepidation in her voice, which was not lost upon Percy. "I've been meaning to read this book anyway."

Percy snorted. "Yeah, it looks like you're getting a lot of reading done. Come on, I know you want to go in."

"No, I most certainly do not," she said as confidently as she could. But was surprised when Percy sat back down beside her. "Percy, you can go in if you want to. Don't let me spoil your fun."

"Nah, I have more fun when I'm with you," he said easily. His immediate reply startled her yet again and she bit down on her lip to smother a smile. "Besides, I'm waiting for you to tell me the real reason you don't want to go in."

"What? The real reason?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Anna Banana," Percy laughed when he saw the sour look on her face at the nickname. "I know when you're hiding something."

"Do you now? And what exactly is it that I'm hiding?"

"That's what I'm waiting for you to tell me," he responded. Percy was now laying on his stomach with his head propped up on his hands, staring directly at her. "So..."

Annabeth didn't know whether she should smile or shy away at his actions so she did a little bit of both. Her heart warmed when she thought about how well he knew her. And it gave her the confidence to tell him her secret. If she couldn't confide in her best friend, then who could she ever tell?

"I don't know how to swim," Annabeth admitted.

"That's all?" Percy asked, incredulous. Annabeth smacked him on the arm hard. "Hey!"

"What do you mean, 'that's all?'" She sputtered. "This happens to be a very serious issue."

"With a very simple solution."

Percy stood up and brushed the dirt off his shirt, before pulling it off. Annabeth's eyes went wide and she glanced away, her cheeks tinged with a rosy pink. But a snap of his fingers directed her attention back to her best friend. He had his hand held out and was smiling down at her, oblivious of how flustered she was.

"What?"

"I'm gonna teach you how to swim," Percy told her, his smile widening. It was infectious; Annabeth had found herself starting to smile too.

She accepted his inviting hand and allowed him to pull her to the water. Within the hour, she was swimming with everyone else in the middle of the lake.

Her laughter had never been so carefree.