When Myths Meet Magic || 2

1|| Nico

"Goway Nico. Lemme sleep," groaned Percy, muffled by his drool-speckled pillow. Nico just rolled his eyes and threw his jacket at Percy.

"Get up. Mrs. Weasley's making pancakes."

Motivated suddenly with the desperation of a hamster to a pouch of dried carrot nibbles, Percy jumped up out of the sleeping bag, his bedhead matching the wild stare in his eyes.

"Mrs. Weasley's pancakes? And Ron's already there? Dude, why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Percy scrambled to put on a shirt and charged out of the tent in his sea green flannel bottoms. Nico sighed in exasperation and properly dressed before following.

The sunlight was cold and the dew on the dried grass made an interesting combination as Nico trudged down the hill. "Where's Percy?" Annabeth asked, emerging from the other huntress tent she shared with Thalia.

"Ahead."

"Pancakes?"

"Yep."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, Mrs. Weasley's pancakes are delicious."

They trudged to the crooked, welcoming house at the bottom of the hill in a comfortable silence.

"Pretty weird, huh?" Annabeth said suddenly. "I mean, just last year, which technically wasn't any time at all, we were clueless and getting stuck in staircases. Now we have a purpose in this world. We know what we're facing. We've fought and we've won. But we're still taking the time to make friends and eat pancakes. And we know magic without being a child of Hecate."

Nico tilted his head. "The pancakes make sense. And as for the 'fight and won' thing, well, it's just your average demigod day, right?"

"I guess," Annabeth sighed. "Still. It's weird to think of how much we've learned in literally no time at all."

"Don't dwell on this stuff too much," Nico advised. "It'll ruin your imagination."

When they got to the Burrow, Percy and Ron were already seated, chowing down some pancakes (Percy's were blue— Mrs. Weasley knew about his odd choice of appetite). Thalia was nowhere to be seen, though it had become fairly routine for her to take early walks to the nearby forest.

"Morning everyone," a voice yawned. Fred and George stumbled down, half asleep.

George rubbed his eyes and blinked, staring at Percy and Aron. "Wow. At that rate, they're going to clean out all the food in our house by next week." He shook his head.

Suddenly, Thalia came in, waving a piece of paper. "Guess what?" She said, a huge smile on her face. "Some new students are transferring from back home!"

"Phreally?" Ron asked, his mouth full. "Datsh shtrange. I donf phink Hogwarsh ushully accshepts exchange shtudens."

"Well, maybe they changed it. Who's coming?" Percy asked.

"Oh, you know, Frank and Hazel. Oh, I think Piper and Jason too? No biggie."

"No way!" Annabeth yelled. If the rest of the house wasn't awake yet, they certainly were now.

"What happened?" Ginny asked from the stairs. The little red haired girl was constantly curious and shy. Very shy. But she opened up once you get to know her, and she idolized Annabeth. A definite friendship had grown.

"Some of our friends are transferring to Hogwarts this year. They'll be in our grade," Annabeth explained, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, that's just fantastic. By the way, have you checked up on Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, carrying another pan of pancakes.