Intertwined || Percabeth Hogwarts AU

Chapter 77

It was half past six, the sun was starting to set, and the party still raged on like it had just started. The bonfire was more appropriate now, the drinks were still flowing, music still blaring, and—was that Professor Apollo dancing in the middle of a crowd? His sister wouldn't be happy about that.

Percy downed another cup of... whatever was in his hand. "Where's Pollux?" he asked Leo. "He's always hogging the best bottle."

"Detention," Leo said with a snicker. He was playing with some kind of golden wire that was connected to this ball-cylinder shaped thing. Percy didn't question it. "Poor bastard got caught with some bird in a broom cupboard. And it was Artemis who found them. Sucks for him."

"Oh, fuck," Beckendorf commented, throwing his head back and cackling. "That's at least a month's worth."

"That's what he gets for not being able to keep it in his pants," Katie said from where she was sitting on Travis' lap.

Travis gave her a look and snapped the waistband of her olive bikini. "Last time it was you who dragged me to the—gufdufu!"

Katie stuck the sugar quill she was eating in his mouth. Travis happily munched on it, kissing her cheek and wrapping his arms tighter around her waist. Connor rolled his eyes at his brother and looked longingly across the way at Malcolm who was currently locking lips with Bianca. It was a hard knock life for him.

Nico was also looking at Malcolm, but for a different reason. He was glaring daggers at the blonde, probably thinking of at least thirteen different ways to kill him with the little twig he was twirling between his fingers. Brotherly love was a beautiful thing.

Percy heard the clink of shot glasses then girls cheering. His eyes snapped to the right, over to his girlfriend, just in time to see—

"WANT YOU TO MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD," Annabeth belted out with the song playing, down on her knees and in the moment. "LIKE I'M THE ONLY ONE YOU'LL EVER LOVE—"

"Merlin's nutsack!" Leo burst out. Percy snorted. "—I swear she wasn't this much of a lightweight last year."

"Oh, she was, trust me," Percy said, smiling dopily at his way drunk girlfriend. "But, hey, you ever think good ol' Merlin gets tired of everyone using his body parts as curses?"

"Who cares? The bloke's dead."

"I love how saying shit like that in the wizard world is normal."

"None of us are normal, mate."

"That's for sure."

"Not normal and proud, baby," Leo said, and made an ah-ha! sound as he finished tinkering with that ball shaped thing. "Check this out."

Percy watched Leo set the ball thing down on the sand and take out his wand. The tip of his wand burst into an orange flame, and he drew a circle around the ball (a protection charm, Percy gathered) followed by a singular fireball into the object itself.

And then he looked on, amazed, as beams of light began to shoot out of the ball and into the velvet sky. Fireworks! The light burst and spread into a multicolored ensemble with the backdrop of oranges, reds, pinks, and purples of the setting sun.

A few of the beams even turned into images of students. Funnily enough, a majority were of Thalia. Thalia's indignation was as loud as her stink eye.

"Wow," Percy murmured quietly.

Leo had his hands clasped behind his head. "Nice, huh?"

"It's gorgeous," Katie said in an awed whisper.

"You're gorgeous," Travis said.

"Shut up."

The music died down a little as everyone stopped what they were doing and stared up to admire the light show. Sometimes Percy was truly surprised by Leo. He was one of the smartest kids in the school, probably would be the smartest if he applied himself more, but only a few people knew that. Percy knew. And he appreciated his friend a lot.

Since Leo's first year, he was severely underestimated and insulted for being a muggleborn, and Percy resonated with a lot—after all, he'd found out about his own halfblood status just last year.

But the damage had already been done.

For Leo, it had gotten to the point where he purposefully acted dumber to fit the image people had of him. And it pissed Percy off. It took a lot of conversations among their friends to get him to quit it, but there were still some lasting effects on his mentality. Nevertheless, Percy had no doubt that those same people who insulted him, should they be put to the test, could never dream of being half as smart or as good at magic, especially fire magic, as Leo Valdez.

"Mm, I should've probably added some more scale powder. Could've been even brighter," Leo hummed. His gaze shot to something behind Percy and he patted him on the shoulder. "I'll see you later, Perce—Hey, Thalia! Wanna snog the night away and forget about it by tomorrow?"

"Fuck off, Valdez!"

"Aw, come on, babe! I promise that gringo has nothing on us Latinos."

"I'm standing right here," Luke cried.

Leo had once sagely said that just because there was a keeper, doesn't mean a chaser couldn't score. That didn't seem to be working out too well for him though. Percy laughed and downed another glass of what he thought was elf brew. Strong stuff.

Oh... shit.

He was feeling it now. His tolerance was pretty high, his dad had told him it was genetic, something about drinking like pirates, and Percy supposed he was right, but now it all hit him at once. And a slow, stupid smile stretched over his mouth.

That smile widened even further when he felt the slide of soft and familiar arms around his waist. Her lips pressed against his spine and sent the most wonderful tingles all over him.

"Hiiiii!" Annabeth said loudly. Slurring. "I missed you."

"I was ten feet away from you."

"That's too farrrr."

Percy chuckled and turned to hold her. He looked down and smiled seeing her pupils blown wide and the fireworks reflecting in Annabeth's eyes. With her hair down and her cheeks flushed pink, her smiling pushing dimples into her face, she was unfairly beautiful. An artwork, timeless and unforgettable.

"I'm right here."

"Good," she said, wrinkling her nose adorably. She hiccuped. "You smell like booze."

"So do you."

"Booze is such a funny word. It sounds like — boobs."

Percy laughed much louder than necessary.

"Boobs," he agreed, smiling shamelessly at her cleavage. Bikinis were such a great invention. He pulled her in closer so her chest was smushed against his. "Boobs are so nice. Especially your boobs."

"I like when my boobs are pressed against your boobs."

"Boobs," Percy sang, laughing. "Especially when we fuck. I like watching your boobs bounce and jiggle and do the wiggle."

Annabeth burst into giggles. "You're druuuunk."

"You're beautiful."

"You're horny."

"You might be right."

Annabeth hummed extensively and pressed a sloppy wet kiss to his lips. More tongue than lips, really. She tasted of lime and chocolate liquor, and he groaned into her mouth when her fingers started raking through his hair. Her lips traced down the underside of his jaw and she pressed her smile against his neck.

"Wanna go back to my dorm?" she murmured breathily. And then promptly fell limp in Percy's arms, fast asleep.