Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 75

Annabeth rose to her feet before everyone else and cried out in joy.

Red and gold banners spread across the arena.

Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw. A blow out of a match really. 230 - 60.

Travis gloated in Katie's face and promptly had his ear tugged before they both fell into laughter. Carter congratulated Zia with a kiss on the cheek. Rachel sulked in a corner before being cheered up by Malcolm.

Everything was warm. Annabeth basked in the sunshine and sheer joy of winning on her boyfriend's face, clapping harder than anyone else. Percy's gaze zeroed in on the stands to seek her out, and when he did, his face split into a beaming smile and he raised his fist. They had a unique way of connecting across any distance.

Annabeth grinned and blew him a kiss.

It was the kind of appreciation only another Quidditch player would understand. It was the kind of appreciation only she could have for him. And it birthed such a comforting warmth in her chest. And then a full blown belly laugh left her watching Percy and Beckendorf throw away their brooms and do the griddy side by side.

◆ ◆ ◆

Percy looked out at the packed shores of the Black Lake and smiled.

The sun was at the zenith and breathed its light over the school grounds, turning everything gold and bright. Silena, bless her big brain, had turned the rocky coast into a more comfortable one made of beautiful primrose sand. Magic was convenient like that.

A majority of the seventh year students were her, along with two sixth years in Leo and Nico, and were as loud as ever, music blared from the Sonorus-ed record player, and even the giant squid was perched up on the other side of the lake and enjoying the sunshine.

Was that normal for squids? He had no idea.

Leo had a bonfire going even though it was only a little after noon, but no one was complaining. Chris was being carried around on Clarisse's shoulders for some reason. Nico was being buried in the sand courtesy of Thalia while Luke sniggered on the side. Beckendorf and the Stolls were talking conspiratorially about something together. That couldn't have been good.

Sometimes he couldn't believe his luck in finding these people.

"What are you thinking about, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy perked up at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. "About time you... got here..."

He had turned around all smiles, but the moment he'd caught sight of her, his heart did a little relay race and his jaw dropped. Or completely unhinged. He couldn't really tell.

Annabeth was wearing a bikini.

A very stringy, very skin baring, very sexy sea green bikini with a light blue shawl tied loosely at an angle around her waist. And goddamn. It just fit her... really well. That, along with her brown flip flops and a light coating of sand along her ankles, she looked like the most tempting siren and he was a wayward pirate unable to resist.

Honestly, he shouldn't have been so affected. He'd seen literally every inch of her at every possible angle, but the sight of her in a bikini the color of his eyes, her curls framing her face and swaying with the breeze, and the sun shining off her golden skin, he couldn't help but stare. Because wow. He needed to plan more beach days in the near future.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Hey — stop ogling me," she teased and ran her fingers up and down his bare chest. "Perv."