Heroes at Hogwarts

sixty-one | orange, purple, and cyclops

percy

The Stolls were on him in a second.

As soon as Tyson set him down and Annabeth had her hand in his again, there was an avalanche of orange and purple around them.

"Why didn't you mention this in your calls?" Conner shook Percy by the shoulders, making him drop Annabeth's hand. His girlfriend was having her own trouble with questions. Lacy, a daughter of Athena, was hanging on her shoulder and crying the happiest tears Percy'd ever seen.

"Well, we knew you'd try to come down here right away!" Percy explained as Harley jumped on his back. Across the room, Harry and the others were sitting quietly and watching. He almost wished the demigods knew how to be civil- but they'd never quite figured out how to act like their parents.

"And what was wrong with that?" Travis yelped.

"It would ruin the whole operation!" Percy replied with Harley still hanging off him. "We just couldn't risk it yet!"

"That's why you said to be prepared for surprises!" Conner shook Percy again, making Harley fall off of him.

Percy was just happy they hadn't seen the others yet. He raised his hands and called for some order, and it took a few moments for people to even notice.

Once the room had returned to some type of order, he called out to everyone, "Could we move this somewhere else? The wizards need some peace and quiet right now." He almost laughed as Hermione blew out a puff of relief.

Harry, though, stood abruptly. He looked back and forth between the demigods and wizards- Percy's breathing stilled. They would need Harry with them, but would Percy's brother choose to go with them?

As McGonagall led the other demigods from the room, Percy stayed behind. Ginny was now standing with Harry, hands on his shoulders from behind. Ron and Hermione sat with Blaise, Dean, Seamus, and Draco.

Draco stood when he noticed Percy coming their way. "Can we help?"

"With what?" Percy snickered. "All is done now. I don't know why we called them up."

"A distraction," Hermione pointed out. "Annabeth wanted Voldemort to think you didn't know he was coming."

"We didn't," Percy deadplanned. Then he shrugged. "Maybe she had a hunch, but we didn't know he'd be here."

Harry grabbed Percy's shoulders. "There's no way this is over."

Percy patted Harry's hands and shook them off. "For now, stay here. All of you. You deserve a break from our world, even if it is just a few hours."

Percy turned away from them, heading for the door the huge group of demigods had filed through. He could tell Harry wanted to follow, but Ginny took his hands and pulled him back. Harry didn't know where he belonged anymore, but Percy hoped he didn't chose their little troupe. He hoped his little brother stayed here when given the choice, because another son of Poseidon would face as much trauma from the gods as Percy had.

Annabeth tucked under his arm as soon as he reached them. Everyone was seated around McGonagall's classroom, but the old witch was nowhere to be seen. Everyone turned to him and Annabeth expectantly. Percy really wished they'd stop doing that.

"So?" Nyssa called.

Jason broke into the story. Then Hazel, then Nico, then Piper. They left out the personal things that had happened with the wizards- no one mentioned Jason and Piper's breakup, or Reyna and Blaise. No one mentioned Percy's split from the demigods in the first few months, or Nico's loss of will. They spoke only of the quest.