Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 74

Annabeth had it up to here with this school.

All these stupid fucking assignments about absolute bullshit that she'd never have to think about again. And exams and essays and projects that just wouldn't stop. What with taking three NEWT classes at once, the work was piling up and she was two days overdue on a three foot essay that there just wasn't enough time for and—

Her quill snapped.

"Of course. Why the fuck not?" she muttered, repairing it with a wave of her hand.

The library was otherwise silent bar the few rolls of thunder outside. Everyone was too fixated on their assignments to converse, for which Annabeth was very glad. The scratch of her quill was the only thing she could hear, a white noise she rather enjoyed, when the grating sound of a chair scraping along the floor interrupted her.

Glaring daggers at the offender, she saw her boyfriend smiling down at her unperturbed. The heat behind her stare cooled a little. He always wore a little grin when in the library and she could make guesses as to why.

"Hi," Percy said. Annabeth grunted and continued doing her work. "Okay... good talk."

She watched from her peripherals as he plopped down on the chair across from her and took out his Potion's textbook and a few rolls of parchment. He began outlining a few things for his upcoming exam.

Annabeth stopped writing for a moment to take in his appearance. The sleeves of his wrinkled shirt were rolled up haphazardly to his elbows, eyes circled with dark rings, and his hair more of a mess than usual. Percy was as stressed as she was; his career goal, as she'd loathed to find out, was to become an Auror.

The requirements to do so were a lot higher than they had been in the past, demanding nearly all perfect NEWTs, and that included Potions. It was a doable class for the most part, the only problem was that it was taught by Professor Dionysus. The man seemed to have it out for all his students. Always berating and grading as harshly as possible while patronizing everyone.

That and he was a common drunk too.

She had no idea how Headmaster Zeus still let him stay on as a Professor. Annabeth was very glad she spared herself from taking his NEWT class. Her OWL would be satisfactory enough.

Though, for what career goal, she didn't exactly know yet.

The other requirement for Percy to become an Auror was to have O's in NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts. That would be a cinch for him. Percy took that class very seriously, especially after their sixth year. Not only in the dueling club, but also the technical portions of it. He'd spent countless hours studying and trying his hardest to learn the material.

And his efforts had paid off in full; he now had the top marks for their year in DADA and Annabeth couldn't have been prouder. The look on his face, the gleam of passion in his eyes when they talked about it spoke volumes of just how badly he wanted to become an Auror.

But it was a dangerous profession.

So many Aurors were injured, killed, and worse every single day. And while Percy was far more than capable, she didn't want a life full of fighting to be his future. God forbid, something ever happened to him. She didn't know if her heart could take it, but she kept those qualms to herself. It wasn't her place to detract from his goals.

Annabeth knew what being an Auror meant to Percy — it was another tie in solidifying his relationship to his father; and she'd never dream of telling him he shouldn't do so. Family meant everything to him.

Percy loved to duel. It was like he lived for it. He'd regaled a lot about the few times he dueled Professor Chiron, and the one time he dueled Professor Potter (while a little jealous about him getting that opportunity, Annabeth was more annoyed than anything because he never told how that particular duel had gone) was like nothing else. Those two were the only ones he'd faced that were leagues above him in skill level and he absolutely loved the challenge.