Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 60

The autumn weather was cool.

The grass crunched underfoot as Percy strode down to the stadium. The rest of the Gryffindor team surrounded him, wearing confident, eager expressions that made his nervousness quell a little bit. But then again, most of them had competed before.

The roar of the crowd was also a bit unsettling, but he managed to ignore it when he caught sight of the Slytherin team, a sea of green and silver, approaching.

His eyes zeroed in on the blonde haired Chaser, strutting confidently and smirking at him. She stood in line with her teammates, graceful and assertive as ever, holding her Firebolt like she'd done this a thousand times before.

This was Annabeth. He shouldn't have expected anything less.

Percy winked at her, laughing when she winked back and blew him a kiss, which he pretended to catch. And just like that, the nerves had filtered away, replaced with an excitement that only she could bring out.

"Captains shake hands. I want a nice fair game, and all that hoo-haa," Ares barked, shooting a meaningful look at his daughter, Clarisse, the Slytherin captain. She in turn glared menacingly back at him, drawing a hearty laugh from her father.

They have a strange relationship, Percy thought, dropping a sweat.

"Now, mount your brooms. On my mark... three, two—phwwwhht!"

At the blast of Ares' silver whistle, the players kicked off, zipping into the sky. Percy and Octavian, Slytherin's Seeker, flew higher than the others and watched as the other players sped across the field. A miniscule glint of gold streaked in front of their eyes before disappearing out of sight in a flash.

The game was on.

Percy climbed higher and higher, getting a good vantage point of the field. He shook his head and watched amusedly as Octavian made laps around the pitch, ducking around bludgers and Chasers.

Leo Valdez's announcer voice boomed and a thunderous round of applause went around the stadium, mostly from the Slytherins, as the first goal was scored. Percy couldn't help but clap too, grinning widely because it was Annabeth who did it.

Every student, no matter their house, watched the match with thrumming excitement. This was always the case with Quidditch. Winning the House Cup didn't hurt either. Slytherin had won the last two years in a row, riling up the Gryffindors to no end.

"—Beauregard snatches the quaffle, looking fantastic as ever in her uniform... a quick pass to Zhang, Zhang to Rashid—oh! It's stolen by Grace! She's going, going—passes to Arellano—Arellano to Chase. And Chase is going all the way! She's done it again, that's another goal for Slytherin! Her fourth one already! Percy, are you seeing this, mate?!"

Percy laughed and shook his head. "That's my girl," he murmured proudly.

The score was 60-30 with Slytherin leading. Beckendorf probably wasn't too happy about that.

He made sure to stay alert for bludgers as he tracked his eyes across the field. I should've tried out for Chaser, he thought, wanting to be in the action. The Chasers and Beaters looked to be having the time of their lives. Being a Seeker involved doing a whole lot of nothing, he'd come to realize.

The Slytherins were having the time of their lives. Again and again, they scored, but the sight before him now made Percy forcibly press his lips shut.

"I don't believe my eyes! Grace and Chase are playing keep away with the quaffle from Zhang! Oh! And he's off his broom, that's gotta hurt! I've seen it all now, folks! Good god, what does Hazel see in him when I'm right here?!"

Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, Percy repeated in his head, eyes alight with mirth. He loved Leo. Little bastard was always fun to be around. Definitely the most eccentric Ravenclaw in the school.

The grin slipped off his face when he saw a glint of gold flash in the corner of his eye. Percy crouched on his broom, his gaze locked on the speedy little bugger as he zoomed across the Quidditch pitch. When he reached it, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he stuttered to a stop.

Percy lost focus on his surroundings, but it wasn't the snitch that shocked him. No, just beyond where it was, in the spectator's stand, sat a bearded man with black hair, sea green eyes, and an unmistakable grin on his face, staring straight back at him.

Poseidon Jackson.