The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 3: The Arrival

Hermione POV:

I apparated into the library, annoyed at the predictability of it. It wasn't exactly a secret to anyone that I sometimes hid here for some fresh air. So it didn't surprise me much when Ginny appeared five minutes later, slightly out of breath due to the fact that she had to run all the way through the school - only seventh years were allowed to apparate withing school grounds. 

"I'm sorry about Ron," Ginny sighed into my shoulder as she hugged me. I had wrapped her into an embrace as soon as she got here, thinking it better that she see my back than my face, which was streaming with tears. "I know I can't really defend what he said, it was awful, but he's just been going through a bit of a hard time lately. Our brother Percy just published yet another controversial column on half-bloods and muggle-borns... Mum's horrified that he could say such things and Dad won't let him back to the house, meanwhile the both of them are receiving hate mail every day because of P. He's ruining the family's reputation; for some reason it seems to be getting to Ron the most."

I thanked Ginny for telling me that, disapparating from her quickly. I couldn't tell her that she had made things worse; that she had just confirmed my suspicions that Ron wasn't confiding in me anymore, that he was withholding the truth. I told him everything about me, but it felt like with every passing day he was retracting from me slightly. 

I wasn't proud of what I did next. I was ashamed of myself for falling in to the same pattern yet again; caving in yet again. When I arrived in the common room, it was completely empty apart from him, sitting on the same sofa we had argued on just moments before. He reached out his hand and I took it willingly, despite myself, and we disapparated to a familiar room, a secret place for just the two of us. I felt vulnerable and shameful when we slept together, but not surprised. It was always the same, nowadays. 

Every single time we argued, this was how we made up. It would break me every time. But Ron didn't want to talk things through, he just wanted to kiss the hurt away and I let him. Unless, of course, he was in his foulest mood; sometimes, I wouldn't see or hear from him for days, and finally when he returned he would say "I don't want to talk about it" and that was that. 

Harry would whisper in my ear when Ron wasn't around, he would call my relationship toxic. I would agree. I wouldn't act on it, though. Ron and I had got together in a time full of stress and darkness; when threats of the Dark Lord's second uprising had spread so wildly that it felt as if the world was doomed. I had fallen for Ron then, as he offered me a comforting shoulder and a joke to break through the darkness. When Voldemort was killed in the Ministry of Magic by "Wizard Hero" Severus Snape, and his army of followers destroyed by members of the Order of the Phoenix (most notably; Sirius Black, no longer known as a criminal, but a hero who killed the most dangerous Deatheater in the world, Bellatrix Lestrange), the months to follow had felt like a bliss with Ron. 

The two of us could finally be happy, without the stress of the Dark Lord or his uprising. But recently all that had changed; conversations turned into arguments, hugs into fighting and the impossibility of leaving each other's sides had transformed into days on end where I barely saw his face. Part of me tried to pass it off as a phase, but the more logical side of me knew that we had gotten together in a time where we were desperate for someone to hold, and now that we were at peace we realized we had made the wrong decision. The problem was, I just couldn't admit to myself that I had made a mistake. 

"Hermione, quick!" Parvati called out cheerfully. I opened my eyes, early morning light streaming through the gaps of my curtains on my four-poster bed. 

"Hurry!" Lavender urged. "It's Wednesday, they're coming!"

The school was alive with energy that morning. Practically everyone in the school huddled around the edge of the lake, expecting the arrival of Durmstrang School. They didn't disappoint: just as it had three years before, a ship exploded through the surface of the lake, sending tidal waves of water crashing down on us. Trumpets blew and fireworks exploded into the air, splashing with the institute's signature colours of green, red and gold. 

Later that day arrived the familiar blue chariot of the Beauxbaton's ladies, pulled along by the beautiful white pegasi. We watched from the towers of the castle in awe and admiration.

"I wonder how Goode is going to arrive?" Seamus asked out loud. 

"However it is, there's no way it can top Beauxbaton's," Ginny admired. "They literally have six pegasi pulling along a flying chariot!"

The rest of us nodded our agreement - we had all been wrong. 

When Goode arrived at midday, they surpassed all expectation. 

"Is that a.... DRAGON!" Dean cried. The rest of us, who had gotten bored staring at the sky waiting for the final school to arrive, looked up quickly in surprise and then fear. 

"That's not just any dragon!" Ron yelled. "That's a Horntail! That's a Golden Hungarian Horntail!"

The beast, easily the largest dragon I had ever seen, flew towards the school whilst shooting flames in to the sky. These flames were so powerful we could feel their heat from where we stood. And behind the dragon flew a golden ship - a flying golden ship, twice the size of Durmstrang's and twice as magnificent. The boat was a thing of beauty, with black lettering on the side,  easy to read from where we stood: The Argo. 

The dragon finally landed on the marked runway with such elegance that even the nearby pegasi didn't feel threatened by a fifty foot dragon in their presence. I widened my eyes in shock when I saw that two people were sat on the creature's back. 

"They just rode a dragon!" Neville exclaimed in awe. 

"That's impossible," Ron was smiling widely. "I need to tell Charlie about this!"

"Look! Here they come!" Someone yelled. We all leaned further over the side of the tower, trying our best to see the new-comers. 

"There's a centaur!" Ginny marveled. "Their teacher is a centaur!"

"Oh, man, their school is crazy!" Seamus grinned. "I wish I had transferred there instead."

"Because their teacher is a centaur?" Harry asked. 

"I was thinking more about the Hungarian Horntail they just rode, but that too."

"Come on, guys, let's get to the great hall!"