Partners in Crime || PJOxHP || Marauders' Era

George and Martha

Jessica grabbed a six- pack of Coke from under her bunk. The Cokes were against the rules. No outside snacks or drinks were allowed, but if you talked to the right guy in Hermes's cabin and paid him a few golden drachma, he could smuggle in almost anything from the nearest convenience store. Sneaking out after curfew was against the rules, too. If she got caught she'd either get in big trouble or be eaten by the harpies. 

Jessica snuck out of Zeus Cabin, muttering a sorry to Hippie Zeus and walking to the creek in the Forbidden Forest. It was calm- Jessica could think better there. 

She sat on a stone with her eyes closed, leaning on a tree trunk. Maybe she could finally find some sleep there. Who had sent her that Iris Message? Maybe it was indeed a trap- one worse than the before one... and then she remembered Voldemort, for some reason. She realized that she hadn't read the news in quite a while. Jessica stood up, walking towards the banks of the creek towards the surf of the beach.

Maybe she ought to get a subscription to Daily Prophet so that she could keep up with the news. Jessica wondered whether her mother and father were alright... they were considered some of the worst blood traitors in all of wizarding kind, after all...

***

Jessica stopped in her tracks, shocked. 

Percy was sat in the surf too. He had spread a baby blue blanket on the sand was sitting with his legs outstretched. She walked to him, and Percy smiled at her. "On a walk?" he asked.

"Thinking," Jessica replied. He patted the blanket next to him invitingly, and Jessica sat down. "Coke?"

"With pleasure." For some reason sugar and caffeine always calmed down their hyperactive brains. He took a long swig from his can, and speaking like a true demigod, he said, "I wish Poseidon would talk to me, give me some advice or something."

"Maybe your half-brother was the advice," Jessica said thoughtfully.

Percy went silent. 

The sky was clear and starry. She was checking out the constellations Sinistra had taught her- Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis-when somebody said, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Jessica almost spewed soda. Standing right next to them was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile. He looked kind of familiar, but Jessica couldn't figure out why.

Her first thought was that he must've been taking a midnight jog down the beach and strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn't supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn't enter the valley. But maybe with the tree's magic weakening he'd managed to slip in. 

But in the middle of the night? And there was nothing around except farmland and state preserves. Where would this guy have jogged from?

***

"May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."

Now, this was a weird situation. Common sense: Jessica was supposed to run away, yell for help, etc. But the guy acted so calm about the whole thing that she found it hard to be afraid. She said, "Uh, sure."

He smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?"

Percy nodded, and the guy sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah... that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at-"

A cell phone went off in his pocket. The jogger sighed. 

Jessica and Percy exchanged nervous looks.