Another War

Chapter 2 : An Army of Red-Heads

"I've never seen you guys before. You don't go to Hogwarts, do you?" the other brunette, Hermione, blurted out, her eyes going back and forth between the Greek boys. In her opinion, Percy was the better looking of the two, and it showed in the way her eyes would always linger on the said teen.

"I've never been to Hogwarts, and neither has Nico," Percy said, glancing down at Nico to only see empty space. Immediately, adrenaline started pumping through his veins, his senses sharpening. He could've sworn that Nico was by him just a second ago.

Percy turned around when he heard the grass rusle. Lo and behold, there Nico was, an evil grin on his face as he pounced at an innocent butterfly. Once the butterfly was in his hand, Nico let out a series of villainous cackles, his eyes gaining a psychotic glint. One of the redheads, Ron, snorted, and Percy had to press his lips together to not add on to all the chuckles and snickers.

Hearing a loud snort, Nico looked over at the large group and cut his cackles short, releasing the butterfly with a sheepish smile and reddened cheeks. Percy held out an arm to Nico, gesturing for him to return to the group with a teasing smile. Nico zipped to Percy's side, grumbling, hiding his face in Percy's shoulder, looking down at the side he remembered pinching just minutes ago.

"We really ought to get going," Amos mused, his lips twitching as he watched Nico. Nico sent Amos a venomous glare that quickly killed the man's amusement. Now avoiding looking at Nico, Amos told everyone to hold onto a ratty boot on the count of three. Percy traded confused looks with Nico, and surprisingly, Harry. As one, the group touched the ratty boot, and the world began spinning at an nauseating speed, reminding Percy of how shadow travel felt.

"Let go!" Amos yelled, and Percy happily obliged. As the ground rushed at him, Percy tuck-'nd-rolled so that the momentum of the fall wouldn't hurt too badly. Then, Percy realized that they had travelled via portkey. Percy stood up on shakey legs, trying not to hurl. Everyone around the god did the same, a green sheen on their faces, all except Nico. He just stood there, smiling at their misfortune. Why did Percy feel that this was instant karma?

The group got delayed by a total of ten minutes at the entrance of the Stadium since the wizards in charge of the event decided that it was a good idea to have a muggle running the stands. The poor muggle got his memory erased so many times, Percy was surprised that he could still function.

Once the group got inside, all they saw were tents. Millions of tents that circled around one of the biggest Stadiums Percy had ever seen.

The Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry departed from the group, going their own way to set up their tent.

"You guys can stay with us, if you want. We still have and hour or two to burn before the game begins," Cedric offered, smiling kindly. Percy was about to say yes when Nico pinched his side. Again.

"That's okay, Percy and I will hang around some other time. Thank you for the portkey, though," Nico said politely, throwing Cedric an overly bright smile Percy knew was fake. Cedric gave us a nod goodbye and walk away with Amos.

Once the Diggorys were out of sight, Percy glared at Nico. "Did you have to pinch me so hard? Again?!" He grumbled, lightly massaging his aching side. Nico gave a shrug that said, "Lol, your problem!" and started to walk in the opposite direction the Diggorys had went.

Percy scrambled after Nico, and they eventually stopped walking to buy scarves from a vender. Percy picked the green scarf, not liking the red and black of the other scarf. Also, the bright color reminded him of the time his Mom force feed him Lucky Charms. Those were the good old days!

We've been walking for forever! Percy thought, but when he checked his watch, it had only been thirty minutes!

"Nico!" Percy groaned out, dragging his feet as they walked