Annabeth Chase and Things Are Getting Intense

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: I haven't edited this chapter because I have no time and it's a Jewish holiday today and tomorrow. I won't be using technology, so I set this to publish automatically and I won't be able to reply to any comments until Thursday night. Anyway, enjoy!

"Okay, that's even more gross," Vera said. "Would they have, like, little Voldemort faces on them? Are there tiny murder clones running around?"

Annabeth leaned back on her hands. "No. They'll just be objects, albeit cursed objects that will probably be under heavy protections."

"And they have to be destroyed if we want to win," Freddie muttered.

They were all sitting on Annabeth's bed in the Slytherin dorm early Sunday morning, going over what Annabeth had learned last night. Pansy and Millicent were off somewhere, Annabeth didn't really care, so they had the room to themselves (she'd checked and double checked that the two weren't anywhere near and that no one was close enough to listen in). Annabeth was dressed in a sports bra and shorts, ready for her morning run, but Freddie had woken up and Vera was awake already, for some reason.

"So how does that happen?" Vera asked. "Wait, actually, before you say anything, there's something I have to tell you."

"What did you do?" Freddie asked suspiciously.

"There's a monster under my bed."

"What?"

"I'm serious," Vera said. "Look."

Annabeth looked over at Vera's bed. Sure enough, the spot where her blanket was draped over the side was moving, like there was something beneath it. Annabeth tensed for a second, and then the blanket was pushed aside and she relaxed.

Daisy was laying on her back under Vera's bed, her hair splayed out across the floor and a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What's up?"

Freddie turned to Vera. "you snuck your girlfriend into our dorm?"

"Technically, she snuck herself in."

"I was bored," Daisy said. "And I already knew the password, so..."

Freddie looked between the two of them suspiciously. "So...?"

"Relax, we just talked," Vera said as Daisy walked over and perched herself in Vera's lap. Vera put her arms around her girlfriend. "And we kissed a little. Okay, a lot. But mostly we just talked."

"And we went to the kitchens," Daisy added.

"Anyway," Annabeth said, "we have to find those things if we want to destroy them. And we also have to find out how many of them there are. And what they are. And how to destroy them. Something so powerful isn't going to be taken care of so easily."

"So how do we do this?" Freddie said.

"We learn more. These lessons are the key to all of this. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how many of these things Voldemort made, where they are, what they are. Meanwhile, we work on how to destroy them."

"It would have to be something powerful, right?" Vera said. "Stuff with, like, special enchantments on it. Would your knife work?"

"It's not a knife," Annabeth replied automatically. "But maybe."

Daisy smiled, leaning back into Vera. "Why do you always say it's not a knife? It is, isn't it?"

"It's a dagger," Annabeth corrected (maybe a little irritably). "A knife only has one sharp side. A dagger has two. Stop talking about my weapon like it's kitchen cutlery."