Percy Jackson and the Heir of Slytherin [Book 2]

5) Hanging With Luke

I walked into the station with my backpack slung over my shoulder. I was excited. Luke had insisted on working until it was time for us to go shopping. So I came here to hurry him along.

"Luke, it's time to go!" I flopped onto him again.

Luke just sighed, finished whatever he was doing, grabbed all of his things, and threw me over his shoulder.

The officers all laughed and I struggled against Luke as he carried me out.

"This way," Luke said, "you won't get hit by a car."

I struggled against him more, "You're mean!"

Luke eventually put me down as we walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the bartender, smiled and let us through.

As we were walking towards Gringotts, Luke stopped to look at me, "Did you change the time so we'd get here earlier."

I froze, "Uh, no? Wh-what are you talking about? They're probably just late, that's all."

Luke raised an eyebrow, "Both families are late? I thought you said that Hermione was very punctual. She was always early to come over, if I recall correctly. So... we should have seen her by now."

I was afraid Luke would get mad. I'd get punished. I had just wanted to spend some time with him. He's always working. I always fall asleep waiting for him to come home.

The floor suddenly looked very interesting.

He put a hand on my shoulder and I couldn't help but flinch. Doing anything like this would have gotten me a beating before. Doing bad things now... I wasn't sure. Luke had never had a reason to punish me before.

Then he pulled me in for a hug. I was immediately surprised. I tensed. Then I buried my head in his chest.

"If you wanted to spend more time with me, you could've just said so. I'm always willing to make free time for you, Perce. You're my world," Luke said, pulling away and ruffling my hair.

I couldn't help but be hopeful, "Really? Y-you're not mad at me?"

"Of course I'm not mad! Why would I be? I was given the day off today anyway. I should've been spending this morning with you. Now come on, we've got some money to get," Luke pulled me along.

I smiled happily.

We went into Gringotts and I performed a different challenge this time.

I had to say my title.

Mickshaw, the goblin that had showed me to my vault last time, lead me and Luke to my vault. Luke stared wide-eyed at the sand and sea-shell door in front of us.

"Now, you will just say your title to the door. As the years pass, you will be able to add more to your title. Your name, son of blank, monsters you've defeated and tasks you've completed in chronological order. Go ahead and give it a try. If it doesn't end up working, we'll just take your blood and do it like last time," Micky said, nodding towards the wall.

"Er, okay," I turned to the door. "Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, slayer of hellhounds, trolls, forest monsters, and crocodile creatures, survivor of Greek snake venom, the water trial, and the Dark Lord Voldemort."

The door slid open and I smiled, looking inside.

"Oh wow, that's a lot," Luke said, looking at all of the money.

"It never runs out. See, this is why you should just take this money. It would be much better if you did."

Luke just shook his head and helped me shovel money into my backpack.

Then we left the vault, smiling as we bought ice-cream. I got blueberry, cause it's blue. Luke got vanilla, cause he's boring.

We sat on the steps waiting for my friends. Luke showed me the cool finger game called sticks. It was pretty fun.

"You're coming to stay for Christmas, right?" Luke asked, looking down at me.

I looked up at the sky for a moment, thinking, "Probably. Unless another adventure comes up, which I really hope it doesn't."

Luke smirked, "You better not have another adventure. I'll have to carry you around if you do."

I remembered earlier, "You already carry me around."

Luke smiled and we heard someone shout, "Percy!"

I looked up at smiled at Hermione and her parents.

"Hermione!" I stood up and hugged her. Her parents went to go talk to Luke while I sat in front of the steps with Hermione.

The first time Hermione's parents met Luke, they were surprised. He's 19 and takes care of an 11 year old, after all. Then he told them the situation, and they just give me weird looks now.

"So, Luke showed me this game called Sticks..." I showed Hermione how to play, and we just sat there doing that until we saw Harry and Hagrid.

"Harry! Harry! Over here!"

We rushed down the steps of Gringotts to see them.

"What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid... Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again... Are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"

"As soon as I've found the Weasley's," Harry responded.

"Yeh won't have long ter wait," Hagrid grinned.

I looked up and saw Ron, Fred, George, Perry, and Mr. Weasley all sprinting towards us.

"Harry," panted Mr. Weasley. "We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far. Molly's frantic — she's coming now."

"Where did you come out?" Ron asked.

I was a little confused so I turned to Luke, "What are they talking about?"

"It's how lots of wizards get around. I've never liked it much. It's called floo travel. You use floo powder in a fireplace and it will transport you to another fire. It seems like Harry's popped out of the wrong fireplace."

I nodded and saw Mrs. Weasley running up with Ginny in tow.

"Oh, Harry — oh, my dear — you could have been anywhere—"

Mrs. Weasley began to brush the spot off of Harry, and Mr. Weasley took his glasses and fixed them with a tap of his wand.

"Well, gotta be off," Hagrid said. "See yer at Hogwarts!" He walked away, easily parting the crowd of people in the street.

Luke and I sat on the steps of Gringotts while everyone else walked inside, finishing our ice-creams.

"It's your birthday soon. What do you want?" Luke asked me with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head, "Definitely not a cat. You'd just end up killing it."

Luke frowned at me and I shrugged, "I don't really want anything. I'm already happy."

"You don't want anything?" Luke's eyebrow was raised.

"Well... there is one thing I've been wanting..." I said nervously. Luke motioned for me to continue, "Do you think... maybe you could hang out with me for a day? Like.... we can just sit around the apartment? I..."

Luke smiled and pulled me in for a hug, "I was planning on doing that with you already!"

I smiled.

I love brotherly Luke and Percy. It's, like, my favorite thing ever. Percy's not one for asking for stuff, but he always just wants to hang. It's so adorable.

Anyway, this is the second book! I hope you all enjoy, and I will post again on Sunday!