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melyaliz · 4 years

Text

Tails

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Summary: Heads or Tails, which would you chose?

Pairing: Fred Wealsey x OC

Notes: I’m sorry

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His body jolted for a moment then lay still.

She tried again.

Nothing.

“Fred?” Percy’s voice could be heard from some distant place. Like some world away. A world that wasn’t the one Rose was in. Her world was crashing around her, crumbling like the walls of the castle. Her world was ending, ending on a cruel joke.

This wasn’t real, this couldn’t be. She was going to wake up in a moment, covered in sweat from this horrible nightmare. Laying next to him to hear his laughter just one more time.

This nightmare that was her reality.

Rose tossed her wand grabbing Fred’s collar.

“No, Fred No!” She screamed into his face, “You can’t leave me! You promised! You promised.”

When George found her, for a moment, he thought she was dead too laying over him twin’s unmoving body.

In many ways she was.

And so was he.

-----

After the battle of Hogwarts Rose locked herself away in her room. Laying in bed unable to move. Unable to sleep but unable to stay awake. Even her dreams were filled with Percy’s face as Fred fell. Even her dreams were filled with Ron’s screams and George’s sobs.

Even in her dreams Fred was dead.

A week later her mother made her get up and clean herself off. She informed her eldest daughter that she was going to Fred’s funeral.

“There are people going who loved him longer than you in a way you will never understand.” she had informed her daughter as she handed her a black dress. “You will never understand what his mother is going through, what George feels. I know it’s hard, but you must be there for those who lost him too.”

So Rose pulled herself together and went to the funeral. But not in the black dress her mother had picked out. But in a bright pink dress she had gotten for the opening for his joke shop. Fred had picked it out for her telling her she would look like a cotton candy puff. Her hair lay in loose curls with a bright matching pink bow.

Fred would have loved it.

Percy meet her at the home as she came. Large bags under his eyes as he stood awkwardly in front of her.

“Rose… Rose I’m so sorry.” he whispered, “I know how much you guys…” the words seemed to be tangled up in his throat, as if unable to get them out. “I know how much you guys… loved each other.”

Rose gently reached out, she wanted to tell him what her mother had said, that she wasn’t the only one who lost someone. She wanted to tell him she was sorry too. Sorry she couldn’t have done more.

But her words were cut off by loud sharp laughter cutting through the blonde’s chest like knives. Sharp and deep, “Well look at you!” Rose turned to see George stumble next to Percy pushing the older brother aside.

“Move, she doesn’t want to talk to you” he mumbled before hugging Rose “Hey there cotton candy” he whispered before giving her a sloppy wet kiss.

Rose hugged him back, her eyes never leaving Percy as the older boy awkwardly took a step back. His face looking so broken Rose didn’t know what to do. She wanted to tell him not to feel guilty. That this wasn’t his fault. That she didn’t blame him.

But the smell of alcohol on George was also a little distracting. And he was holding her so tight she could barely breathe. It wa as if he was crumbling in her arms and it broke her inside.

He led her into the tented yard lined with chairs. Light by candlelight floating around casting a mostly ghostly light.

Everyone was there but Rose didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone, George making her sit in the back with him and Ginny. Drinking and muttering comments more to himself than to anyone. It was as if Fred was there with him.

Only he wasn’t.

George ending up in a sobbing state by the end of the service before passing out in Rose’s lap. Fred’s name on his lips.

Once everyone had gone Rose helped Charlie and Ron bring the twin to bed.

“I’m so glad you are here” Molly said hugging Rose, “Fred really loved you…” she paused as if unsure what to admit “We all do.”

“I’m sorry” Rose said hugging Molly back, wishing with all her heart she could somehow spare them from this pain. Somehow give them what she knew she never could. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t save him.” she took a deep breath, “and I’m sorry for George, I’m sorry for your family and I’m sorry…”

She was cut off by Molly shaking her head, “dear, please, this is not your fault”

From behind the door she could hear George moan, “I’m going to come back, I want to help” she told Molly. A resolution building inside her. She couldn’t bring Fred back but maybe she could make up for that.

Maybe she could somehow ease the pain of others.

Maybe somehow, she could ease her own pain.

----------

“What am I going to do?”

It had been three weeks since Fred had died. Almost two since they had buried him.

“I don’t know George, I really just don’t know.”

They both looked at each other. Rose’s hands ever moving, unsure of what to do with them or her whole being for that matter. What to do, what to say. Before it was so effortless. Everything had been an effortless adventure. But now, now nothing was effortless. Not even breathing.

George… a half of him was gone. His whole being, his whole life had been altered. Cut off like a limb. Screw his ear, a part of him that was more important that hearing was gone forever. It was unnatural, wrong.

They sat there side by side both in an endless cycle of desperation to stop something that had already happened. What could they do? What should they do? He turned to her brushing away a strand of her hair. She hadn't been able to do anything with it so it just lay limp around her, unbrushed and unkempt.

At his touch she turned to look at him too, eyes large and filled with endless sorrow, mimicking his own.

“Maybe, we could just do this together.” He whispered leaned forward his breath slightly sour across her face before he pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back. Maybe this is right, maybe this is what it was meant to be. They were both broken and lost, they both needed someone. They both need to fill that hole that Fred had left.

Fred.

She couldn't do this. It wasn’t fair. Pulling away she studied George’s face. He looked back, questioning.

“No,” She whispered “I… I don’t love you. This isn’t fair.”

“But maybe…”

“Maybe we could be together and forever hold on to the memory of Fred? Do you think that is what he really would want?” She paused taking his hand in her hands. “I want you to move on, he would want you to move on. If we stay like this, we will wake up every morning seeing Fred in each other.” The words, as they came out were more a plea to herself. Move on, heal, Fred would want that.

“So what are we going to do?” He asked again putting his hands over hers. She sighed.

“Helen is going to Egypt to study some medicine. I think I’m going to go with her” Helen had offered to take her a week ago but Rose had turned her down. She had wanted to stay but now she realized she needed to go. She needed to get away from everything, all these memories. She needed to get away from the feeling of seeing Fred behind every door, in the corner of her eye. “I can’t tell you what to do George but I think you should work on rebuilding the business, or maybe take it somewhere else. Do something, anything that isn’t this.” She looked around the room they were in. Still littered with Fred’s things. Things they couldn’t give up, yet didn’t know what to do with.

He nodded wordlessly so she continued standing up, “I’m going to travel the world” the determination building with the idea, “and when I come back you better be the good ol’ George I remember, smiles and all.” He chuckled lightly standing up hugging her.

“Thank you Rose, I love you.”

She hugged him back, “I love you too”

--------------

It was hard at first, almost impossible, to be happy. She traveled the world with Helen helping her discover new ways to save both muggle and wizard lives. She would work tirelessly until she was numb to the world around her.

That was how she made it every day, totally numb.

That was until she met Bobbie.

She had just happened to be back in England for the birth of Liem’s first child, a girl, the same time George came back from the states with his new girlfriend. A muggle named Bobbie. He had invited her to join his family for dinner saying that she was just as much his family as the rest of the Weasley clan.

“She knows so much about you and wants to meet you. I… I want you to meet her. I think she’s the one” He added sheepishly as if he was guilty for his happiness.

So she came.

The girl was as bright and bubbly as her pink hair. She wasn’t anything Rose had imaged. In school George had always liked girls that were a little… stuck up but Bobbie was anything but. With a nose ring and several tattoos on her body she greeted everyone with bright excitement. Shaking hands and giving quick hugs.

Until she met Rose.

Her smile grew wider, if that was possible, and she took Rose in a long strong hug as if she was never going to let her go.

“I couldn’t wait to meet you” She said holding Rose as if putting the girl back together.

They spent the night talking. Bobbie pelting her with questions. Only happy ones, about her family, about her life now. She was a muggle so everything magic excited her with a childlike wonder that made Rose want to tell her every detail. The simple little things seemed to shock her in a way that was infectious.

In turn Bobbie would tell Rose own stories adding in silly voices for the people and making exaggerated faces. It may have been partly her accent but Rose was enthralled by her. She had boundless energy and Rose could be around her forever.

The way George looked at her. It was as if he was looking at her for the first time. It made Rose’s heart swell as George would add in her stories reminding her of details she had forgotten. She would normally just laugh shaking her head reminding him that he hadn't even been there and he “only knew that facts because of her.” And he would laugh, laugh like he had during school.

The sound itself was like magic. Like a gift that spread over Rose waking her up from a long coma of numbness. Every nerve in her body tingled as George would let out those loud exaggerated laughs.

Soon, she found herself laughing too, laughing like she hadn't in so long.

When she left she hugged them both taking George tightly. “Marry her,” She whispered, “Marry her and never let her go”

He grinned at her, wide and so much like Fred it should have made her heart hurt. But it didn’t. It made her happy, as if Fred was at rest.

------------------------------

She went to George’s wedding which was soon after she had met Bobbie. George didn’t waste time. Typical of a Weasley.

She also came back for the christening of little Freddie.

She traveled the world doing things and seeing things. She wrote about it in numerous journals. She would go back and sometimes see family.

George tried to set her up with a few of his friends every once in awhile but Rose was happy. She liked the freedom that her life opened to her.

She had so many Godchildren, besides Freddy, Liem’s second daughter Ava, who was a spitfire, she got it from Carrie. A slytherin like her parents who once climbed up wall of one of the tallest towers of Hogwarts because someone told her she couldn’t.

This was after the death of Liem, which Rose also attended.

She was the God mother to Jack and Rosie, Rory’s twins. They reminded her so much of Fred and George it hurt. They were so full of smiles that they made the world laugh with them.

She attended Alfie’s kids first concert where his daughter’s voice moved a whole crowd to tears as her three brothers backed her up on their instruments.

She loved Norie’s two girls as if they were her own. Both beautiful happy talkative children. Norie was constantly telling Rose how much they wore her out. “They never stop talking” she would mutter under her breath. Her very tall husband shook his head silently as Rose and him both knew it was karma paying the little chatterbox back.

Clare never had children, unable to after the loss of her lower half. She lived her life on their house teaching children like her who couldn’t go to Hogwarts. Like Liem’s youngest son who was blind.

She may not have had her own children but she loved all the ones that were part of her life.

She loved how many friends she had made over the years. She knew there was nothing wrong with moving on, marrying someone new but she just really never felt the need to. She loved the life she had built for herself. Fred was a part of it, every day, in the phrases she used and the occasional pranks she would pull on people.

And on the day she died she met him again.

She was laying on her deathbed and suddenly he was there. Standing, smiling that wide mischievous smile.

“Surprise” he said and she couldn't help but smile back.

“Hey”

----THE END-----

Master List

Tagging: @0hmydeku @thespacebuns

#Fred Weasley #fred weasley x oc #Fred Weasley oc #Fred Weasley x reader #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x you #Harry Potter angst #Fred Weasley angst #Fred Weasley long fic

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swordedfool · 4 years

Note

kisses w all the guys pls ill cry

kisses? sure !!

⌜ ☼ ⌟ ――― 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼

the waves were particularly pristine that night. having visited the beach earlier that day, romeo was tired out. but it didn’t mean his heart wasn’t doing cartwheels in his chest because of the person walking beside him. she was totally oblivious to the way his eyes practically formed hearts in direction, aloof to how she looked under the moonlight, and clueless to how she made him feel in general. romeo’s advances on seren had always been met with a laugh or a shrug or a giggle, always taking it for a joke. at that point, he had grown rather used to it. but it didn’t stop him from wishing that she would take him seriously, that she would give him a chance. the problem he found was that his words often lose their meaning in the way he says it. maybe it was why he was particularly quiet tonight. and she noticed.

“ you’re awfully quiet. are you alright? ”.

her concern towards others always blew him away. and what rendered him quiet was the fact that she hardly asked him whether he was alright. but that was mostly because he pretended to be okay, brushed off an injury like a simple graze, smiled through any ache in his chest. hearing her ask that question she’s heard her ask the others a dozen times was not good for him. it just made his heart clench more.

romeo chuckled and nodded, “ sure. just a bit tired, that’s all. mind if go sit down for a bit? my legs are tired. ” receiving a nod, he led them to a nearby bench. it reminded him briefly of their first proper conversation in the school outdoor yard, sitting under a blue sky, talking about her plans to put together a team. it felt like a long time since then.

immediately after taking his seat, he noticed the girl beside him move to fix her bow. shifting over, he drew the distance between them smaller and immediately reached towards her hair and caressed it gently, moving her fingers away and fixing the bow himself. “ oh, thank you. i just can’t seem to get it to stay still lately ”, seren grumbled. he hummed and could only afford to admire her side profile, lingering in this proximity until she rose her gaze and smiled at him questioningly. “ what’s up? ”.

why must she assume something is always wrong? it was a detail about her romeo grew fond of over time, something that caused him to smile as he fixed her bow but did not retreat his hands, brushing his trembling fingers through her hair and risking a peek at her reaction. she continued to beam at him, never raising a brow, never questioning his next move. she was too innocent for him sometimes, hence why most his advances went over her head so quickly and so easily.

it felt criminal to suddenly lean in, but what was more criminal was her reaction, how the blush flooded to her cheeks in an instant and did unspeakable things to his heart. he dared to tuck one strand of hair behind her ear, tapping her chin with a minor chuckle. it felt inappropriate that his mind had gone blank, only the thought of kissing her became his priority. “ i really want to kiss you right now ”, he admitted with slight hesitation, far unlike the normal romeo who would go with the flow. he just didn’t want it to feel forceful.

“ oh ”, seren replied, he was starting to blush nearly as badly as her. “ i-i can’t promise i’ll be very good at it, i’m not exactly smooth when it comes to these things. so if it sucks i’m sorry-- .” he had to cut her off, cupping her cheek and locking his lips with hers, sealing a dream that he would only see in his sleep. on cue, both their eyes fluttered closed. he felt like she had taken his breath away, so he moved slowly, his kiss like a ghost against her lips, his hand still caressing her hair lovingly. his heart? well it never stopped racing, only when he had the courage to pull away and immediately found himself giggling. “ w-what? was it bad? hey, don’t laugh, i’ll get embarrassed! ”.

romeo smiled fondly at her, lips still tingling, heart ringing in his ears. he leaned in just once more and pecked her cheek, and then grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. “ it was everything i have always dreamed of ”, he told her softly.

seren hummed with a frown, “ so you have dreamed of kissing me? ”. he didn’t bring himself to respond, only smiling at her and tugging her along.

⌜ ☆ ⌟ ――― 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿

libraries are meant for studying, but there are some who may not see it that way. there are some who see libraries as a place to reminisce, to think, to reflect. for alexander, the library had been his safe space since he started studying at valhalla. but it had ended up being the place he took to admire art. and not the painting or drawing kind.

he has been glancing over at the silent seren beside him for a while, finding himself increasingly distracted by her presence. she was quiet, minding her own business, reading through a magic tome for a project. occasionally she would glance up, meet his gaze and smile, before going back to her reading, and every time, he found himself growing frustrated. there has been a feeling bubbling up in his stomach for a while, and it was caused by a mere glance at seren. he didn’t know the origin of it, but he could comprehend it. he really wanted to kiss her.

most dream of kissing their loved one and not many have the luck of such a thing occurring. he’s been fighting those thoughts back but they rush back in like a current by a shore. a feeling that would crash in and rattle every nerve in his body and retreat the moment he lets reality sink in.

alexander found his timing to be flawed when the girl cleared her throat and closed the tome, and rose from her chair. “ i’m finished for the day. i think i’ll be in my room. are you going to be okay alone? ”, she questioned with a hushed tone, despite the library being empty.

no, he wanted to say. every time she left him to go to her class or to return to her room, he found himself lonelier than ever, and missing her the moment she leaves. when she’s gone, he sees her in his dreams and imagines that he might be able to hold her hand and tell her he likes her, or caress her hair or hug her or even kiss her. but the moment he woke up and saw her the following morning, the courage evaporated into thin air. that was why he found himself questioning whether now was a good time. she’s standing there, book to her chest, gazing at him curiously.

“ there is one thing you can do for me ”, he began. when seren hummed and stepped forward to listen, alexander acted upon the courage that shook him to his core. he bit his lip and reached up, grasping her gently behind her neck and bringing her face forward towards him. the girl squeaked and he then found himself staring at two round, stunned eyes. she hadn’t moved away yet, so he went for it.

his initiation of the kiss was tender, sweet, because he was unsure himself. but once his eyes flutered closed and the adrenaline began to race, he deepened it, cupping both sides of her face and moving her closer to him. the position was awkward, he’d rather have her on his lap, if he was being honest. yet he cut it short, pulling away a few moments later with slight pants and red cheeks. pecking her lips one final time, alexander saw seren’s face painted a vermilion that suited her completely.

“ w-well ”, she stated nervously, gulping. “ t-that was nice. ” grasping the back of his chair, alexander leaned in once more and pecked her lips again. and then again. until she whined and moved back. “ alex~~ i really got get going now. w-we can continue this another time. ” he smiled and nodded and waved her off, sighing slightly as she paced away. this is why he likes coming to the library.

⌜ ❁ ⌟ ――― 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘂𝘀

there are just some days that should not be ruined. and with every stroke of good luck in one day alone, percy would find himself feeling unstoppable. just earlier today, he had gotten an a+ in his magical art project. then they had served his favorite meal for lunch. not to mention that afternoon lessons were cancelled so he spent two hours in his dorm painting. needless to say, there was a skip in step, insinuating just how happy he was. if he were to come across one of his friends, he would just hug them because he was so happy. no reason needed, he’s just overjoyed!

and he would be damned if something were to ruin it. percy had just come out of his room and was on his face to the lounge where evangelos wanted to play table tennis. out of his uniform and sketchbook in hand, his steps were rushed, but they came to a stop when he reached the stairwell leading up to the lounge. it was empty except for one person coming down, and suddenly, his heart was taking off. his happiness didn’t disappear, but rather, it paused. and then began to overflow all over again.

seren had stopped halfway down the stairs, hand brushing against the railing and smiled softly when she locked eyes with the artist. “ percy! evan is waiting for you. i would join you guys but i’m not in the best mood right now ”, she spoke with an uneasy laugh towards the end, and he began to walk up to meet her halfway.

to see the mild sadness on her face dared to break his heart in two. he had such a good day, and maybe it was that happiness that erupted in his chest when he saw her that gave him a sudden feeling of courage. if she was upset, he was more than willing to cheer her up. he climbed up until there was just one step separating them, and he smiled lightly, noticing she was a tiny bit taller than him now.

“ can i ask you something? ”, he asked, heart trembling when she nodded. it felt so unlike him to suggest this, usually being the one waiting for the romantic gesture rather than initiating it himself. but with seren, he took impulses, maybe in the fear that he will miss his chances and then never have them again. percy’s lips trembled to get the word out, cheeks flaming. “ c-can i kiss you? ”.

the courage to ask was used, and he immediately found his gaze grounded to the floor, unable to look at the girl in the eye, unable to fathom the idea of her either rejecting or accepting his request. he assumed she was going to laugh it off as she does when romeo flirts with her, but seren did take one final step down, now face to face with the nervous boy. only a few inches seperated them, yet when seren nodded, there was no reason for him to stay away.

percy had never kissed someone, so it was no wonder he hesitated. but his hands moved and cupped her cheeks adoringly, appreciating the view in front of him and then pecking her lips at first, unsure, nervous, like he was poking his feet in cold water. but he caved in and pressed his lips softly against hers, nearly melting when she grasped his shirt and held it tightly into her hands. he was painfully scared, they both were, so careful that it ended up being softer than he was anticipating. but he was not complaining, he was kissing her!

percy pulled away first, and his face met the crook of her neck, rushing to hide it. seren giggled and rubbed his shoulder tenderly, “ hey, it’s rude not to look at a girl after a kiss. ” muttering a small ‘sorry’ against her skin, seren only smiled and ended up hugging the male tightly. this had to be one of the best days in his life.

“ c-can i kiss you again? ”.

⌜ ♕ ⌟ ――― 𝗸𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻

what kailen has found in the months of liking the same girl, is that she’s very clumsy. the nurse’s room had become a second home to her, especially after dueling lessons. and when the nurse was not present, most likely refueling her cup of coffee, he would be the one looking for the first aid kit and treating whatever ‘boo-boo’ seren had. and it was clear that she felt guilty, through her pouts and mumbled ‘sorry’s, yet he never held it against her.

if anything, he loved taking care of her. because it would often be tender moments that they shared alone, and those happen rarely. it’s idiotic to wish harm upon someone, but kailen wasn’t doing that; he just didn’t mind it when she came running to him because of a bad paper cut or a sprained ankle. as of now, he was delicately cleaning the palms of her hands after she fell and badly scraped her hands.

“ i would tell you to be more careful but you won’t exactly listen ”, he stated with a minor chuckle. seren pouted but made no attempt at responding with something witty as she tended to do. being in a room alone with her did make him nervous, though. kailen hardly acted upon his thoughts and impulses in fear it would upset someone, but he ached to hug seren, or caress her hair.

the contact was limited to him only nursing her, though. yet he refused to be upset by that, cleaning her slightly bloodied palms and then proceeding to apply the plasters and bandages. once he finished, kailen let out a happy sigh and smiled at the girl sat on the nursing bed. “ is there anything you want me to do? do you need pills? ”, he questioned. and hummed when she reached her hands towards him.

“ can you kiss it better? ”, asked seren, almost in a child’s voice. and who was he to refuse to a demand when she said it so cutely?! chuckling, kailen bit back his nerves and took her hand gently into his, pressing a delicate peck to her bandaged palms, looking up at her to see if she was content. she looked rather happy. but after kissing her palms, kailen’s feelings began to haunt him once more.

she had asked him to kiss it better, and though she smiled, the pout remained. he wasn’t going to be able to stand that. he would usually run from this but now, he was so close. kailen moved in, setting his hand beside where she sat and drew their distance to a close. still holding her injured hand, he started off with a kiss against her cheek. when she turned her face to glance at him, he leaned and pecked her lips. to his surprise, she still didn’t pull away. so he kissed her properly, as best as he could. as gently as he could. as passively as he could.

it was the first time he had ever gotten this close to seren, and it was the first time he realised the whiff of her perfume and the warmth of her skin. he tightened his grip on her hand and broke the kiss in fear of pushing too far, cheeks burning, heart throbbing.

seren gulped, staring at him with wide eyes. he feared he’d totally scared her off and opened his mouth to apologise, but stopped. “ well ”, seren began and suddenly chuckled. “ i suddenly feel ten times better. ”

“ g-good! ”.

“ do it again. ”

“ huh?! ”.

⌜ ❆ ⌟ ――― 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘀

evangelos gave good hugs, that was just a very known fact. despite being the most intimidating person on the face of the earth, his arms gave perhaps the warmest and most comforting embraces that you’d ever want. it was possibly why when his crush was upset, she would find herself in his arms within no time. the moment he saw that frown, he would know. and would open those arms wide for her.

he did it to cleo, he did it to percy. but his heart just trembled the most when it came to seren. you might understand why when you are hugged by the girl. whenever he looks down at her when her arms are wrapped around his slim waist, he just feels like dying. she was so cute, so warm, so cuddly, like a teddy bear he never had growing up.

today was like most days, but what he found particularly different was the lack of communication coming from the girl beside him. they’d been eating for a while, he would tune into the conversations between the others yet his gaze would quietly shift to seren. this happened many times until he realised that something was definitely wrong. especially with how close she was sitting to him.

that was armsend code for ‘i want hugs.’

it was why he ultimately led her outside. the courtyards were empty this time around, they appeared to be in luck and the moment he turned to seren, he opened his arms wide for her and watched her push through like a magnet, capturing his waist into a tight embrace which he returned. having him in his arms practically recharged his battery, even if it was short. “ what’s up this time, searing? ”, he questioned, receving a hum in response. “ what was that? ”.

“ not a good day ”, the girl echoed, closing her eyes and resting her head over his chest. would it be too bad if she heard his heart beating? it was going too fast for his own liking and he would most likely give himself away if he didn’t calm down. she glanced up suddenly and he felt like his world had been rocked upside down. “ i just needed a hug. ”

evangelos remained perfectly still, staring into tearful blue eyes and finding himself nervous, but he was really good at not showing it. the moment he leaned down and kissed her, though, he prayed that his cheeks wouldn’t give it away, that his heart was basically aching. it wasn’t fear that kept him from kissing her, rather, it was a form of hesitation that worried him. what if she didn’t like it, what if she doesn’t like me? thoughts that echoed on a daily.

he felt like dying, though, when she stood on her tip toes and wrapped her frail arms around his neck, sinking into a kiss he had contemplated for ages. he didn’t want to break it, deepening it slowly, his lips picking up a desperate pace. with the strength he had, arms locked around her waist, he did the most romantic thing he could think of and lifted her off her feet just ever so slightly, nervous at her giggles.

evangelos was a passionate person, but he wasn’t given enough time to show that. he pulled away when he put the girl back down, caressing her cheek lovingly. “ i just asked for a hug ”, she said breathlessly.

“ what, you didn’t like it? fine, i won’t give you anymore ”, he grumbled and bit back a gasp when she pulled him back in again for a second kiss, and this time, he melted.

evangelos gave good hugs, but he also gave the best kisses.

#prompts !#questions !

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warriorlid14 · 5 years

Text

Day in, Day Out

Summary: A few months after the war, Ron is overwhelmed. Harry steps in to help.

Words: 6,426

You can find it on AO3 and FFN.

A loud crash followed by cursing woke Harry up. Instantly, he was on his feet, pausing only to grab his wand and glasses and bolting across the hall, to Ron’s room. His heart was in his throat, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he practically burst through the door leading to his best friend’s room, wand drawn, ready to attack anyone to protect himself and Ron.

But all he found was said best friend, crouched beside his bed, quickly wrapping his right hand around the wand on his bed and pointing it at the door the instant Harry burst in, and clenching his left hand around whatever he had been holding. At this second action, he cursed again, dropped his wand, and wrapped his right hand around his left, which Harry suddenly noticed had started bleeding.

“What the hell?” In an instant, Harry was at his side, stepping over the broken shards of glass littering Ron’s floor, cradling his trembling hand into his own. Ron tried to pull away, but Harry pulled harder. “Let me see, will you?”

There were shards of green now buried into his palm where he had mindlessly clenched his hand in a panic, readying himself for an attack. Harry winced in sympathy. “Ron, why were you holding glass with your bare hands?” He didn’t know a spell to remove the glass shards, so he’d have to remove them by hand before mending the cuts.

“The lamp fell,” he said, and hissed as Harry removed the biggest shard. The lamp had been a housewarming gift from Mr. Weasley, a muggle artifact Ron could actually use now that he was living in a mostly muggle apartment.

“I can see that, but why not use your wand to clean this up?” Harry removed the last of the shards and muttered an incantation under his breath, instantly closing up the wounds on Ron’s hand, then muttered a scourgify to clean the blood. A quick reparo and the lamp was whole again, albeit, not as nice with cracks and scratches marring its surface.

“I didn’t- I didn’t think about it.” Harry raised an eyebrow at him, and it was only now that he knew Ron wasn’t in any danger and their apartment wasn’t being attacked and that Ron wasn’t bleeding anymore, that Harry took notice at the disarray around them. Ron’s book bag was open on his bed, quills and loose parchment and old snacks and snack wrappers spilling onto it, and two books that Harry recognized from Auror training were open among the mess. His desk was even worse. Another book lay open, and more quills, as well as about a dozen pieces of parchment all covered in Ron’s messy handwriting. Two coffee mugs, as well as more wrappers. Ron was a stress eater.

“It was stupid,” Ron continued, rushing through his words. “I moved the book too harshly and the lamp fell over. I’m sorry I woke you up. You can go back to sleep.”

“It’s fine.” And another thing. A small, infuriatingly familiar, empty vial, which was probably the reason Ron’s hands were still trembling. He kept his anger at bay, knowing that it probably wasn’t the best idea to have this argument at- he looked at the clock on the wall- 3 a.m. “What are you still doing awake?” he asked instead, even though he knew the answer.

It had been almost seven months since the end of the war. The first couple of months were still a blur in his mind. A haze of grieving and funerals and pain and rebuilding. They had worked on rebuilding Hogwarts then, himself along with Ron and Hermione and the rest of the DA along with half of those who fought in the battle of Hogwarts. Well, those who had survived, anyway. They hadn’t rebuilt it by the time classes rolled around. But enough of the castle stood standing to be able to hold classes in it. And the student population had dropped. Some due to death or disappearances. Others who had fled due to the war. And still, others who were simply too scared or too weary or who simply didn’t want to return to Hogwarts after what had transpired there. So, after deciding not to admit any new students for the time being, the remaining school population, along with Hermione and Dean and a few others who had decided to return for their NEWTS, returned to Hogwarts to reclaim their education.

And they had rebuilt their lives. Fred’s death had been a devastating blow. Not a day went by in that horrible first month that Molly did not cry at least once. George had refused to speak for a full week, and didn’t leave his bedroom for the first three weeks until Ron and Percy patiently coaxed him out. The entire Weasley household had been suffocatingly silent, holding their breaths, until finally, two months and three days after that fateful day in May, George announced that he was moving back to their, to his, flat above Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. And everyone breathed again. It had been slow, but suddenly the Weasleys were smiling again, sometimes even laughed, and a few days after George had announced his decision, Molly began to hum again while she cooked.

Harry and Ron had moved out a few weeks after helping George settle into his flat. They had rented an apartment in Muggle London to avoid public attention, but just a few blocks away from Diagon Alley. Both Harry and Ron had enrolled for Auror training, and much to Harry’s exasperation, Ron began to work part-time at the Three Broomsticks, mostly on weekend nights, to be able to pay his half of the rent because as they were only just aurors-in-training, their pay was low. George had announced during the summer that he would be reopening WWW for the Christmas season, the same day classes would let out for Hogwarts, and had recruited all available hands to help. Harry, Ron, Lee Jordan, and even Percy had all jumped at the occasion, but it was Ron who spent the most hours at the shop or at George’s flat, helping with stocking, and cleaning, and designing and redesigning more wheezes. Harry had been stopping by Hogwarts whenever he could, helping with the continued reconstruction, occasionally joined by Ron and George. All of them stopped by the Burrow as often as the could. Both Harry and Ron had found their purpose in life. They were healing. Their new lives worked.

At least at first.

“I’m studying for the exam tomorrow,” Ron muttered, glancing at his desk. “Go back to sleep.�� Ron was frighteningly pale, with bags under his eyes so dark Harry wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually drawn in with ink. He hadn’t bothered with concealing them under glamours this time, and Harry wondered if he simply didn’t care or hadn’t even remembered to. His usually tame hair was sticking out in all directions, and Harry assumed he had probably pulled at it all night in stress. Ron was clearly completely and utterly exhausted.

Which was unfortunately nothing new.

“You told me you had studied already,” Harry said, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.

“I did!” Ron said, almost yelling, voice unnaturally high. “But then last night, when I was looking over my notes one last time, I realized I completely skipped over the antidotes for common poisons and the theory behind shield charms. How could I have been so stupid to forget about two fucking sections?” He laughed, but there was a slightly hysterical note to it.

“And I was going to go over it, I was, but then I- I fell asleep.” He took a shaky breath. “It was so stupid. But I was so tired because Rosmerta asked me to cover a shift Tuesday night and then we were running in training all day yesterday and I was restocking all evening after that.” He was talking very fast again, tugging at his hair, and looking so frazzled that Harry briefly wondered if slipping some sleeping draught into his drink would be worth the week-long silent treatment Ron would surely give him.

“So I fell asleep. It was only for an hour, promise,” he said, as if Harry would get mad at him for having the audacity to take a break. “And I started reading, but then George sent me an owl…” And he didn’t have to explain that part. George would only ask for Ron in the middle of the night if he was in the midst of an emotional breakdown.

“So I just, I didn’t have time until now. But I’ve been looking at these notes for hours and I can’t memorize a single fucking thing. And Harry, the shield theory- I don’t get it!” Ron looked completely panicked now, eyes wide, and his breathing was becoming slightly irregular.

“And this exam is at ten and I’m going to completely flunk these two sections and I’m going to be at the bottom of the class and get all the worst assignments in the field and we won’t be partnered together, and I’ll have to be paired up with the likes of Cormac fucking McLaggen and my entire Auror career will be a joke all because I’m too much of an idiot to understand shield theory!” Ron’s voice had become louder and more high-pitched through his speech, and he was shaking now, and bloody hell, he looked like he might actually cry.

Harry immediately wrapped him up in a hug. “Hey,” he said, trying to make his voice sound soothing. “Breathe, mate. You’re going to fine. You’re not thinking straight. Your entire career isn’t going to be over if you fail this exam.”

Ron shook his head and struggled against Harry’s hold. “Let me go. I need to study.”

“What you need is a nap. When’s the last time you slept a full eight hours? Hell, when’s the last time you slept a full four hours?”

“I don’t have time!” Ron yelled, finally managing to escape Harry’s grasp. “I need to study and then go fail this exam and then go to work and then finish restocking because the opening for WWW is in two weeks. So if you want to help, go get me another cup of coffee.” He took a deep breath, but it did nothing to stop the trembling.

“If you drink another cup of coffee, you might actually combust.”

“Then just leave me alone! I need to learn this.” Ron stood up to go to his desk.

Harry sighed, and stood up, biting back an angry retort. “Ron.” He ignored him, picking up the book and plopping down on his chair, grabbing a piece of parchment from the table and glaring down at it, but his eyes were unfocused and Harry knew there was no way he was actually concentrating on what he was reading. Harry stomped over and pulled the chair back. “Ron. At least go take a shower.”

“Didn’t I just say-”

“Listen to me,” Harry said, giving him a steely look. “You are completely out of it. You will not learn anything like this. Go take a shower to clear your head.”

“Harry, I don’t have time!” He stole a glance at the clock, which was now at 3:20 a.m and began breathing heavily again.

Harry placed his hands on Ron’s shoulders. “Fifteen minutes. Just fifteen minutes. I’ll help you study when you come back.”

Ron shook his head. “You need to sleep, too. You’ve already been woken up by three nightmares this week.”

Harry blushed a bit, but then shook his head and fixed a glare on Ron. “Ronald Weasley, if you do not listen to me, I will stun you right now and force you to sleep for the next twenty-four hours.”

Ron scoffed. “You wouldn’t.” But at Harry’s stoic expression, he looked a bit worried. He stole a glance at his wand, probably wondering whether he could get to it in time, but Harry wasn’t concerned. Even if Ron got his hands on his wand, he wouldn’t be much of a challenge in this state. Finally, he growled an angry, “Okay, Mum.” But he still got up and stomped to his closet to pull out, Harry huffed in frustration, his Auror robes, as he had not changed out of his WWW uniform and clearly had no intention of sleeping before his test.

“Your insults are better when you’re fully awake, you know,” Harry called after Ron’s retreating form and received a two-finger salute and a door slam for his troubles.

Harry sighed and began to pick up the mess on Ron’s bed, stuffing it back into his book bag. He had tried to be supportive, to stay out of Ron’s way and keep his retorts at a minimum even on days when he would find Ron dozing off during their lunch break, too tired to even attempt to hide his exhaustion from Harry. Not that it worked very well. They lived together after all, and Harry had known Ron for the better part of a decade. He knew his best friend better than anyone else. So Harry wasn’t fooled by Ron’s jokes and bright smiles and constant reassurances that he was just fine. Even the Weasleys were beginning to notice, despite the fact that Ron had become frighteningly good at disguising his true feelings from them after the war and now his seemingly chronic exhaustion.

Mrs. Weasley had pulled him aside the last time they were at the Burrow, asking Harry if Ron was doing okay. Out of a sense of loyalty to Ron and not wanting to cause her any concern, Harry had responded that he was fine, that auror training was just becoming a little more intense. Harry was sure that George had noticed too, though Ron concealed his emotions from him more than anyone, so he might have not realized just how much he was wearing himself down. Besides, George had come to depend on Ron more than anyone in the months following Fred’s death, both emotionally and professionally at WWW, so Ron was more likely to cut off his own foot than to admit to George that volunteering his time at the joke shop was a source of tremendous stress. Hell, he would never even admit it to Harry.

Throughout their years at Hogwarts, Ron had been the one to keep him and Hermione sane and relatively healthy. He would joke with Harry and drag him out for a game of Quidditch whenever he would brood too much. He would coax Hermione to take a break and sleep whenever she became too absorbed in her school work. He would make sure Harry’s plate was full during meals or slip out some snacks for Hermione whenever she was too busy studying to stop by the Great Hall to eat. He would put his foot down when he thought either of them were in over their heads in whatever new scheme they had come up with to stop Voldemort or Malfoy or Snape or fight for the protection of magical beings. A pillar of strength. Their rock.

And he still was. Harry would still often wake up to concerned blue eyes staring down at him after a nightmare, a cup of tea and a game of chess always ready at the dining table. He wrote to Hermione every day, always reminding her to eat and sleep with half-hearted threats that he’d break into Hogwarts if she wasn’t (very hypocritical, really). He’d snap at reporters and glared down at Harry’s overenthusiastic fans who did not understand the meaning of personal space.

But now his role had expanded.

The Weasleys had always been a close knit family, and they still were. But Charlie was back in Romania for his job. Bill was starting a family, and Ginny was back at Hogwarts. Percy tried. He did. He ran home whenever he was summoned and offered to help his father in the tool shed and checked all of George’s WWW paperwork. But the effects of his two-year absence, his two-year betrayal, still hung in the air. All the Weasleys had forgiven him, and Harry was sure that there was almost no lingering resentment left. But there was an awkwardness that never really went away. Percy was too agreeable now, never argued, never had a retort or pursed his lips in disagreement, or was every really himself. And try as he might, he would never be able to completely understand the horror of every battle, the constant peril the Weasleys put themselves in, the fear of being discovered or constantly running for their lives.

So Ron had stepped up. He cheerily helped his mother with household chores when he stopped by. Hugged her and reassured her whenever she got misty-eyed. He dragged his father out to lunch with him every other day, and then dragged him out to Muggle shops if he became too quiet, too withdrawn, lost in memories of his fallen son. And he always, always, responded if George needed him.

Harry understood Ron’s need to be his family’s emotional support. Hell, half the time he was there with him. It was who Ron was. Reliable and loyal, never one to stand back when the people he loved were hurting. And it was also a way for Ron to heal from his own emotional scars.

So if Harry came home to find Ron fast asleep on the couch, with shoes on and still fully dressed in one of the three different uniforms he owned? Well, he’d summon Ron’s blanket and cover him with it. And he’d pack an extra lunch whenever Ron slept through his alarm clock and didn’t wake up in time to cook his own. He’d throw a snack at him whenever he ran to the floo, rushing to his next destination without a meal and had a cup of coffee ready the morning after a long shift at the Three Broomsticks. Harry didn’t mind picking up some of Ron’s chores or nudging him in training whenever he became a little too drowsy. Whatever his decisions were, Harry fully supported his best friend.

Except that Ron was a full-time auror trainee, homework and exams and all. And he was also working twenty hours a week at a bar. And he was also helping his brother open up his store practically from scratch after it had been so thoroughly destroyed after the war. And he was always on call whenever his family or friends needed his support. And he was forcing himself to smile and joke and laugh every single day, no matter how exhausted or emotionally drained he was. But he was still having nightmares, waking up screaming once or twice a week, calling out for his friends and family, but mostly for Fred or Hermione or Harry himself. And when he didn’t think anyone was looking, he would drop the smile, a far-off, misty look in his eye that reminded Harry of the time he had found him sobbing in his dad’s tool shed a week after Fred’s funeral, and Harry’s heart clenched at the sight.

Harry grabbed the empty vial off Ron’s desk and sat down on his bed. Day in, Day out, read the inscription. Used to keep a person awake and alert for thirty-six hours at a time. Not to be used more than twice a week or twice a month. Not to be used with caffeine. Not to be used as a long-term sleep replacement.

Ron had promised he wouldn’t take it anymore two weeks prior after his hand had shook so much, he dropped two teacups he had been holding.

Ron was cracking under the pressure. If something didn’t change, if something didn’t give, he would break. Harry didn’t know what that would look like, and he definitely had no intentions on finding out. It was now Harry’s turn to firmly put his foot down and intervene. Even if it required certain sacrifices from his part.

By the time Ron emerged into the room ten minutes later, red hair still dripping a bit, he was looking far more focused and a little sheepish. “I’m good now. You can go back to sleep.”

But Harry simply patted the space next to him on the floor where he was leaning against the bed, notes neatly arranged in front of him. Ron relented, sitting next to Harry cross-legged. “Let’s go over potions first, yeah? See what you already know.”

It turned out that with a clearer head, Ron was able to remember a lot more (who would’ve thought?). So after an hour of being quizzed by Harry, Ron could recite most of the potions’ uses and ingredients without consulting his notes, only stumbling over a few of the most obscure ingredients. It was when they moved on to shield theory though, that they seemed to hit a wall.

“It’s no use,” Ron announced, slamming his book shut angrily after forty minutes of Harry’s patient lecturing. “Forget it, Harry. I’m a lost cause.”

“You’re not stupid, Ron,” Harry said tolerantly, already guessing at what was going through his friend’s mind. “Shield theory is extremely convoluted.”

“You understand it,” Ron grumbled.

“Yes,” Harry said, keeping his annoyance out of his voice. “Because I’ve spent every night for the last week going over my notes. And I did it while I was awake.” As if to prove his point, Ron chose that moment to involuntarily let out a yawn. “And it helped that I wasn’t drugged out of my mind,” Harry said, with a pointed look at the empty vial on Ron’s desk.

Ron had the good sense to blush at that. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Find a better hiding spot next time.” Ron opened his mouth, no doubt to say that Harry should stop barging into his room next time, but Harry cut him off. “Besides. You’re loads better than me at nonverbal spells and the best in the class at intuitive and emotion-based magic and strategy. You’re not going to suddenly drop to the bottom of the class because of shield theory.”

“But if I don’t know the nuances behind how shields work, I won’t be able to improve my technique.” Despite his words, Harry was pleased to note that the bitterness had dropped from his voice and he had picked up the book again and placed it on his lap.

“Your shields are fine,” Harry said firmly. “May I remind you that you’ve already successfully defended yourself out in the field? You’ve fought death eaters and are still alive, aren’t you? It’s more important to be able to perform the spell than to understand why it works.”

Ron opened his mouth to respond, but he yawned again instead, and rubbed at his eyes. Harry removed the book from his lap. “Go wash your face. We’ll go through it again when you come back."

Harry smiled despite himself when Ron obeyed without argument.

They spent the next two hours going over the complexities of shield theory. Hermione would have probably been able to explain it more eloquently than Harry, but this was Harry and Ron, and they understood each other better than anyone else, so Ron didn’t have too much trouble discerning Harry’s gibberish. To Harry’s complete lack of shock, Ron eventually understood the concept, at least the basic and fundamental principles of how it worked, despite not fully grasping the nitty gritty details. But as Harry had pointed out, to fully understand the complexities of shield theory they’d need more time than what they had.

Eventually though, after the third or fourth time Ron had dropped his head on Harry’s shoulder and then hastily picked it up while attempting to look at the text Harry was reading from, Harry had to stop them.

"Ron, you’re falling asleep.”

“Mm not,” Ron muttered sleepily, making no attempt to remove his head from Harry’s shoulder, and when Harry glanced at him, his eyes were drooping.

Harry poked him hard in the ribs. “Ron.”

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” he grumbled, rubbing his side and glaring blearily at Harry. “This potion is rubbish. Thirty-six hours my arse. It barely worked thirty-six minutes.”

“It’s not a miracle worker. Plus, I reckon you’ve grown an immunity to it,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. Then, more quietly, tone serious, “You promised me you’d stop using it, Ron.” The concern was evident in his voice.

Ron gave him a guilty look then glanced down at his lap. “It was just for today. I need to pass this exam.” At Harry’s raised eyebrow, he added, “Promise.”

Harry leaned back against the bed and sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You can’t go on like this, mate.”

“Like what?” Ron said hotly, suddenly defensive.

Harry didn’t even blink at the sudden hostility. He gave him an incredulous look and pointed his hand at him, “Like this! You’re completely exhausted, Ron! You’ve barely slept a few hours this week! You’re running on sheer stubbornness and caffeine and potions. You’re dead on your feet!”

“I’m fi-”

“Don’t. Even. Start.” Harry snarled. “You almost had a panic attack over an exam. Over school work! And last I checked, your name isn’t Hermione Granger.”

Ron slumped to the ground, knowing it was pointless to argue. “The shop opens in two weeks. I’ll be able to get more sleep after that.”

“Except you won’t. Because then the shop will be full of customers, and you’ll be helping George run the shop,” Harry pointed out. Ron didn’t dispute this. “And no matter how brilliant and successful he is, the shop won’t be pulling in profits for at least six more months what with all the loans for repairs and new products. So it’s not like he’d be able to pay you until then even though he wants to.”

“I’m not doing it for the money, Harry.” And there was that defensiveness in his voice again.

“I know that,” Harry said, but despite his exasperation, he couldn’t help but spill a little fondness in his voice. “I’m just saying, at this rate, you won’t be able to leave the Three Broomsticks within the next six months, best case scenario. And we won’t see a raise pay in Auror training until next year when we’ll be helping out in the field. And Ron, you can’t do six more months of this.”

Ron ran a hand through his hair, and when he spoke next, Harry had never heard him sound so tired. “Then it looks like I don’t have much of a choice, do I? I’m not leaving George, Harry. I’m not.”

“I wasn’t suggesting-” But Ron interrupted him.

“And being an Auror has been our dream since we were kids. And I kind of need to be able to pay rent, Harry.”

“Except you don’t,” Harry said. Ron narrowed his eyes at him, and Harry knew that he was in dangerous territory. There was practically a caution sign in the air, but Harry wasn’t backing down. Not from this. “Quit your job at the Three Broomsticks.”

“No.” His tone suggested that there was no room for discussion. Harry barrelled on.

“Look, you can’t-”

“I’m not taking your money. I’m not. I’m-”

“A grown adult who can take care of himself, I know,” Harry said, quoting a previous argument. “I’m not suggesting I pay your rent.” Then, after a pause, “I’m suggesting we move out. Somewhere more affordable.”

That took Ron by surprise for a moment, but then he shook his head. “Where? I thoroughly checked before we moved in. There aren’t that many places cheaper than here that are this convenient. And absolutely nowhere would be cheap enough to afford on our current salaries. Not in Muggle London, anyway. And if we stick to wizarding communities like Hogsmede, we won’t be able to step out of our place without being harassed by reporters. You, especially. And anyway, even if I there was a cheap enough flat, you shouldn’t have to live in a shitty place because I can’t keep my shit together,” he said that last part quietly, and Harry opened his mouth to angrily to protest, but Ron cut him off. “And we’re not moving back into the Burrow. Look, I love my parents. I do. But we’ve been on our own since we left Hogwarts, and if I have to move back in, I might just have to jump out my window.”

“Well, some of that was a load of horseshit,” Harry said. “But I wasn’t suggesting the Burrow or another flat or anywhere we’d have to pay rent.” At Ron’s questioning look, he took a deep breath and making sure there was absolutely no reluctance in his voice, said, “Grimmauld Place.”

Ron immediately shook his head. “You mean the place that reminds you of Sirius every time you walk in? The one that holds traumatic memories of the war? No, Harry. We’re not doing it. That place reeks of darkness.”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry said, hoping he sounded convincing. “It’s the perfect solution. We wouldn’t have to worry about rent because it’s already mine. And before you say anything, it’s not like I paid for it with hard work or anything. Sirius left it to me, and he loved you and Hermione. He’d be fine with it. And the girls will be back from Hogwarts soon for the holidays. They can help us move out and we could recruit them and your brothers to get rid of dark objects. We’d even get a chance to practice all the brilliant new spells we’re learning against the portrait of Sirius’s mom.”

“That place is not good for you. There’s a reason we don’t go there anymore!”

“And maybe it’s time to stop running away from it. It’s not like I don’t think about the war every second of every day,” Harry admitted. “It’s just a house. I’ll be okay. And anyway, being reminded about Sirius isn’t a bad thing.”

Ron shook his head, unconvinced. “Look,” Harry continued. “What you’ve been doing all this time? Being there for your family and friends? Helping your brother restart his dream? Working towards your own dream? Supporting yourself financially? It’s brilliant, mate. Truly. But it’s getting out of hand. You don’t sleep. You barely eat actual meals, mostly snacks and coffee. You’re a nervous wreck and for good reason! Ron, you’re killing yourself.”

Ron still didn’t budge, and Harry had to resist the urge to throttle him. It was like pulling teeth with this one, sometimes. “I fought this war to make sure that my family was fine, and right now, you are not fine. You won’t be able to help your family the way you want to if you continue like this. You’ll fall apart. And I need you to be okay, Ron. Let me help you.”

It was a bit manipulative, but if it cut through his best friend’s stubbornness, he didn’t care. Ron didn’t answer for a few minutes, leaning against the bed, lost in thought. Harry could practically see the warring thoughts flashing in his friend’s eyes. But despite the concentration in his eyes, there was also that look of bone-deep weariness. And his face was still pale. And the bags under his eyes were still a deep purple, almost black. That removed any doubt from Harry’s mind that this was the right thing to do.

“If we do this-” Harry smiled, so Ron emphasized “IF. It’ll only be until I’m official staff at WWW. And then we leave that shit hole.” Harry nodded. “And the instant, and listen to me very carefully Harry, the instant you begin to get more nightmares, or depressed, or whatever negative effect that house on you, we leave. Immediately.”

The “we” wasn’t even a question for either of them in any of these scenarios. After the Horcrux hunt, it was completely ludicrous to even think about living separately. Hermione leaving to Hogwarts was hard enough. If Ron lived away from him, too, well, he might also have to jump out Ron’s window.

“Okay.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need more reassurance than that. You need to promise that you’ll tell me if that house begins to affect you negatively.” Ron was dead serious, and Harry felt that surge of both exasperation and fondness again.

“I promise,” Harry said. Ron gave him a searching look. After a few seconds, he must’ve concluded he wasn’t lying, because he nodded, and fell back against the bed.

“Okay. I guess we’re doing this. I’ll hand in Rosmerta my resignation letter tomorrow. She’ll be devastated. She’s quite fond of me, you know.”

Harry laughed, half at Ron’s comment, half in relief. "I’m sure.”

Ron nodded, and rubbed at his eyes again. “Okay, so, what were you saying about the intention of every wand movement?”

“Right!” Harry said, and continued to explain the chapter they had left off on. Not a minute later, though, Ron’s head had fallen on Harry’s shoulder again. He yawned.

“I’m really, really tired Harry,” he admitted in a mumble.

“Go on, then. Take a nap.”

He shook his head. “I really almost lost it over an exam, didn’t I?” There was a small grin on the corner of his mouth.

Harry snorted. “Yeah. If I wasn’t here, I would never believe it. I should’ve taken a picture because Hermione will surely think I’m lying.”

“Well, don’t tell her, you traitor. Go on, then. Keep reading. I’m listening.”

So Harry did for two minutes, Ron not moving from Harry’s shoulder or opening his eyes. Harry reached for his wand, ready to levitate Ron onto his bed, sure he was lost to the world already, but Ron’s voice stopped him.

“Still listening. Continue.”

“Ron, you are clearly falling asleep.”

“Nah. And even if I did, you’re not very comfortable. I’d wake up within minutes.” Harry lightly smacked him on the head. “See? Can’t sleep here. Besides, I’m not sure if I’d be able to wake up, and I can’t miss the exam or work. I’ll just stay up and you can hit me with an enervate before the exam.”

Harry gave him an incredulous look, not that it had any effect, as Ron still had his eyes closed. “Ron, you just told me you’re quitting.”

“Sure, but I can’t just not show up. It’d be a dick move. They’d be short-staffed on a weekend. It’ll be a week or two before I can leave.”

Harry considered it for a second, then said, “What if I picked up your shift? Just for tomorrow, so that you get to sleep.”

Ron snorted. “You don’t know shit about waiting tables.”

“Come on, how hard can it be?” Harry would come to realize that the answer was very fucking hard, but that was a different story.

“Do you really want to be out in public like that? A lot of people frequent the Three Broomsticks. I’m just lucky they’re used to me already.”

“Rosmerta doesn’t allow reporters in there, though.”

“Yeah, but-”

“It’ll be fine. And I’ll go to the shop early on Saturday with you to help with the restocking. You’ll finish faster and get to sleep some more before your Saturday shift,” Harry said with sudden determination, concern for his friend winning out any reservations he may have had.

“Didn’t you promise Nev that you’d help him on Saturday?”

Harry waved his hand. “They can make do. You’re more important to me than restoring some library.” Incredible how there was a time that the mere thought of admitting something like that out loud would make him blush.

“Don’t let Hermione hear you say that,” Ron teased, but his voice was affectionate.

“Hermione would agree. Now go on. Off to bed with you.” Harry nudged him, and this time Ron removed himself from Harry’s side. He shook his head.

“No, I’m not done,” he said, and reached for a sheet of parchment. Harry grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“You already know the basics, and you won’t be able to process anything else right now.”

He shook his head again, and rubbed his eyes. “I won’t wake up if I take a nap, and I want to go over everything at least one more time.”

“I’ll wake you up,” Harry said.

“Mate, you should go to sleep if you’re serious about picking up my shift and then waking up early to go to the shop. My shift doesn’t end until 3 a.m after clean up and George is expecting me at 7 a.m on Saturday.”

Harry gave him a look, and Ron sighed. “Half an hour, yeah?”

“An hour and a half.”

“Forty-five minutes and that’s the most I’ll concede. You have to wake me up, though. I’ll hex you if you don’t, Potter.” But of course, there was no malice in his voice.

“I will. Eventually.” Ron gave him a scandalized look and Harry put his hands up. “Kidding. I’ll wake you up in forty-five minutes.”

Ron nodded, then stood up and crawled into his bed, seeming to pass out the instant his head hit the pillow. Harry stood up and headed towards the door, opening it quietly, and turning off the light.

“Harry?” He stopped. “Thanks for looking out for me, mate.” The voice was quiet, on the edge of sleep.

“Of course. Always.” But Harry wasn’t sure if Ron was even awake long enough to hear his response.

Harry headed to the kitchen and began making breakfast for two, fully aware that Ron would scarf the eggs down in less than a minute with one hand while holding a book in his other hand. He kept a careful watch on the clock the entire time, keeping an eye out for the forty-five minute mark. He took two coffee mugs from the cabinets, paused, then returned one of the mugs and took out a tea cup instead.

With fifteen minutes to spare, he sat down at the dining table and took a sip of his coffee. He wasn’t looking forward to moving into Grimmauld Place. Not in the slightest. But, well… His mind flashed back to Ron’s sunken eyes. It’d be worth it. And it wasn’t like Ron had looked forward to sleeping in a tent in a forest for months.

When the clock hit the forty-five minute mark, he stood up, then stopped, smiled mischievously and sat back down. Fifteen more minutes wouldn’t hurt.

#warriorlid writes #ron weasley #harry potter #harry and ron

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luanardo · 5 years

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((just binge-read a bunch of stuff on the harry potter wikia and now I got an urge to do a headcanon dump about it (is it even headcanons when it’s about my own OC???) so uhhh here’s a bunch of fun facts about Lua’s future career as an Auror before I go to sleep))

Lua went into training at the same time as Tonks

They signed up, like, immediately after graduating Hogwarts (to fit into the canon timeline)

that being said, Lua was trained by Alastor Moody too

(hence all the b99 incorrect quotes I make with Moody as Cpt Holt and Lua as someone he sasses)

((also dad jokes))

So they trained together

Have arguably the same skill sets

Of course, there’s some differences in skill levels between the both of them

I like to imagine Lua’s the better fighter of the two of them, but Tonks is better at detective work and investigation

Oh yea and they were partners for most of their earlier career

It just made sense, y’know? The two of them trained together, so they know each others’ skills and abilities

So Lua and Tonks worked together extensively when they passed basic training

They used to kind of rely on each other’s skills to do things

Like, Lua can’t cast a patronus due to his angst/trauma, so Tonks would have to protect both of them from dementors and leithfolds

Tonks can’t act for shit, so Lua has to cover for them both when they have to infiltrate places

etc. etc.

Moody eventually encouraged them to start working independently, but they always had a good partner dynamic going on

They both have a bit of a reputation in the Aurors’ office

For being both Alastor Moody’s latest proteges, and for being a pair of little shits who love causing mischief

They’re among the youngest two in the office, so a lot of the older veterans kind of look down on them

They respond with snide grins and a quick two-finger salute

And practical jokes

More than one Auror has clocked in to find their desk covered in wrapping paper

No one can give them shit though because Tonks and Lua have both proven themselves already

Apparently the Aurors’ main office is a big open hall with a bunch of cubicles in it??

One cubicle for each Auror

So. Lua and Tonks’ cubicles are right next to each other. Obviously

They’re best friends ^_^

(Tonks lets Lua call her “Dora”)

They kind of share work spaces and tend to stand up in their cubicles and talk over the wall when they’re working a case

Lua has a jar on his desk labeled “LAUGH JAR,” where he and Tonks add put in a sickle every time they can get Moody to laugh

After three years, there’s only one sickle in it. Lua noticed the corner of his mouth twitch upwards and he took it as a snicker.

Tonks has a neater work space than Lua

It’s mostly that she has to keep things organized so she can keep track of her stuff. Lua just has a vague idea of where everything is and he can find things really quickly.

Oh also!! Tulip is here too!!!

Her parents half insisted, half forced her to get a job in the Ministry after graduation

Probably trying to groom her to inherit one of their positions

She chose to spite them by getting a job in a different department

She absolutely hates her job, but keeps it because her parents promised to leave her alone after she’d worked it for a few years (and she’s very patient about it)

It’s not that her job is hard, it’s that it’s too easy

She makes things more interesting by playing pranks on her coworkers

(Lua and Tonks join in sometimes, when they’re not busy)

Oh, also, Tulip and Lua are dating at this point (if you haven’t already guessed that based on how I write their relationship) and they live together in an apartment

I can go on about that more but this is about the OFFICE

Oh fun fact: In my canon, Lua first met Arthur Weasley in an elevator at the Ministry

Lua was kind of awkwardly glancing at Arthur the entire elevator ride and eventually Arthur asks “Err, can I help you?” and Lua goes “Oh, no, sorry sir. You just look like a friend of mine, from school” and Arthur says “Ah, which one?” and Lua realizes it’s Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George’s dad.

They become friends, hell yeah!

The main reason I included this is because at one point, Arthur kind of slips up and mentions that he enchanted a muggle car to fly. And Lua just says “Arthur, you’re a bloody genius”

Nevermind the fact that it’s illegal to enchant muggle devices to do magical things

Anyway, Lua goes fuckin wild and manages to work with a couple people to enchant a motorcycle to fly (Hagrid, Arthur, Moody, Scabbers, and everyone else who knows Sirius all cringe)

It’s a secret due to the legal troubles, but he uses it for transport in areas he can’t broomstick to.

He only flies in emergencies or when he’s really in a hurry to get somewhere (and even then, he only takes off and lands in isolated areas near where he needs to go)

Unlike Arthur’s car, it can’t turn invisible (he didn’t think of that when they were messing with it)

It’s kind of a weird vehicle to ride, but Lua gets the hang of it because he invested so much into its creation (It’s kind of his baby and he treats it as such)

Tonks can drive/fly it too. She thought it was awesome and demanded she get a chance to try it out

(it would never come up in the main series because Lua would be using it at the time)

They’ve both used the bike to chase down dark wizards, once or twice (or a couple dozen times)

i looked up an image of the model of bike it’d be

i’m sorry I just really like the idea of biker!Lua and tonks

and oof it’s getting late uhhh I’mma cut this short

We’re not gonna get into the angsty Second Wizarding War shit lmao

(not right now anyway)

#lua corbeau #future!lua #mun post

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dyde21 · 6 years

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Seventeen Going on Seven

This is partially dedicated to @solbabydraws who I promised to post this story for a few days ago. Also cause they’re a wonderful, beautiful, supportive person. Enjoy! Fair warning, it’s pretty long.

XxXxXxXxX

Percy ducked as deadly credit cards sped through the air just above his head, sticking out of the concrete like tiny daggers.

“Where are you going? Our sales are to die for!” The womanly snarl came out.

Rolling his eyes, Percy rolled to the left as another set of cards whizzed past him. The jokes had stopped being funny about five minutes into running for his life. “A little help here!” He called out, though he knew the rest of their gang were busy with their own saleswomen.

“A little busy!” Jason called out, deflecting a bronze umbrella, that opened to a fan of knives.

“Next time, we're just ordering online! I'm done shopping!” Leo called out as he ducked behind a trashcan as the woman ran past him.

Spinning in place, Percy swiped another set of cards out of the air. They couldn't keep running, eventually the monsters would catch up. He dashed forward, ducking a swing from her claws as he cut off one of her legs. The monster flailed, but Percy stabbed downwards and finished off the beast. Looking for who else could use help, he spotted a cloud of dust around an invisible figure running away, being chased by another saleswoman holding multiple vials in their hands. Percy figured Annabeth had been hit by something, so even her cap wasn't letting her hide to find an opportunity.

Ripping a trashcan lid off a nearby bin, he hurled it towards the saleswoman.

Before he could celebrate however, the woman just reached up and caught it. “I'm with a customer right now, please wait your turn.” She said in a sickeningly sweet tone, before she flexed her hand and bent the metal like it was paper.

That had been the distraction Annabeth had needed, as she had turned and stabbed the woman in the gut before jumping backwards as the saleswoman flailed with her claws. Quickly making her way to Percy, Annabeth just grinned, removing her hat. “Thanks for the help, Seaweed Brain.”

Smirking, Percy was about to reply when he saw the lady raise her hands with the vials. Throwing one, Percy barely had time to shove Annabeth out of the way as it collided with the pavement, a sickly green ooze appearing and beginning it melt through the ground.

Annabeth staggered, off balance from the sudden shove, but before she could regain her balance she saw another one heading straight towards her. Desperate, she raised her hands but it would be too late. At least until she saw Percy dive in front of her, arms wide, as the vial of liquid exploded across his back.

Annabeth shrieked, expecting to see her boyfriend melting, but nothing was happening.

Even the saleswoman looked stunned. “Oh, wrong vial! Dammit! Now this time I'll...” She never got to finish her sentence as Jason's sword lopped off her head, leaving her dissolving into dust.

The rest of the crew ran over as Percy dropped to his knees.

Kneeling in front of him, Annabeth held his face in her hands gently. “Percy, look at me. Is everything okay? What are you feeling?”

Percy just stared at her, confused. “I don't know. I feel strange... I... I feel fine mostly though. Nothing hurts.”

Hazel frowned. “There's no way that vial was just water. Something... something is on you. Probably a potion, but we have no way of knowing what it could have been.”

Annabeth frowned, her mind racing a million miles a minute. What could it be? Judging by Percy's expression, he felt normal. Which was bad, that meant whatever it was would be subtle. “Take off your shirt Percy.” She ordered.

Percy raised an eyebrow as Hazel flushed, looking away. “Excuse me?” The son of poseidon said after a moment.

Annabeth however was already lifting his hoodie off of him, tugging at his shirt. She ignored the red creeping in her cheeks. “We don't know what potion hit you, but it's still on your shirt and hoodie. You can't leave those on in case it's dangerous. It could be explosive for all we know.”

That did the trick as Percy quickly stripped off his shirt, throwing it in a nearby trash can.

Piper snickered as she saw Annabeth eyeing Percy's chest with a look she was probably unaware she had on. Nudging her boyfriend, she convinced Jason to give Percy his jacket for the trip home. She figured Hazel would be less uncomfortable that way, and Annabeth wouldn't be as distracted.

Annabeth held Percy's hand as they walked back, cautiously studying him, looking for any idea of what effect the potion could have had. “I'm sorry.” She muttered softly to him.

Shaking his head, Percy smiled. “It's not your fault. It's a good thing we stopped them.”

The crew of the Argo II had decided to meet up to get some lunch. Even Reyna had joined them, since the leaders of both the Greek and roman camps had decided to meet up regularly in order to stay in contact, and maintain relationships to avoid future conflict the best they could. On the way, Annabeth had happened to notice some monsters sneaking off down an alley. Annabeth had said they should follow them, since gathering monsters usually meant some sort of problem that would try to kill them eventually. Reyna had agreed, and their course had been decided.

There they had found a backstreet market for monsters. All sorts of knick-knacks, potions, and spare weapons were sold there, along with fresh hot dogs. Everything a monster could need to slay some demi-gods. Figuring they couldn't leave it alone, they had launched a surprise attack on the small stand, destroying it. It turned out the owners weren't too happy with having their shop destroyed, so they had struck back.

Annabeth just stayed quiet, still studying him. “When we get back to camp, you're going straight to Chiron. We need to figure out what hit you. Maybe a hectate kid can help you too.”

Nodding his head, Percy smiled weakly. “Okay, mom.” He said with a small laugh.

Pouting, Annabeth wanted to call him out but she figured that having her boyfriend not freaking out about being splashed with some dangerous liquid was probably better than the alternative.

By the time the crew had managed to make it back to the camp, night was already falling. Percy had gone to Chiron to be checked out, by they hadn't been able to make heads or tails of what had hit Percy. Will had also confirmed that Percy still seemed to be in perfect health. That meant one of two things. Either the potion was harmless, it could have been a dud or just not affected him for some reason. Or that whatever it was had a specific trigger or a time delay.

Annabeth was terrified of the later, and refused to let Percy fall asleep. It had taken him convincing her for an hour that it was safe for him to sleep, that she could check on him in the morning. He had explained that he had absolute faith that Annabeth would have been able to handle any problems that could arise. He trusted her with his life.

They had kissed goodnight, with Annabeth threatening him that if anything happened to him while she slept she would never forgive her boyfriend.

After setting an early alarm, Annabeth finally headed to bed. She would wake up early and check on him. She wanted to stay up, but she knew that she had to get some sleep herself. She was exhausted, and if she didn't properly sleep she could miss something tomorrow if a problem did show itself.

XxXxXxXxX

In the cold morning, Annabeth hugged her arms close to herself as she padded across the camp softly. Her nerves were racing, but she needed to stay calm. She knew not to worry, Percy would be sleeping in his mess of a bed as usual, no big deal. As she crossed the camp, there were only a few campers up by this time. Some getting in some morning training, others looking for an early breakfast.

Annabeth side stepped a little boy who seemed lost. He was wearing a large camp half blood T-shirt a few sizes too big for him, and his shorts drooped past his knees. Annabeth figured he must have been a new camper, someone found young. It reminded her of herself when she first got here. Shaking her head, she pushed those memories from her mind. She could check on the kid later, she had to make sure her boyfriend was okay first.

Approaching his cabin, she knocked on the door but was surprise when it had swung open. His bed was empty, the seats thrown aside like he had gotten up normally. But his cabin was empty. Immediately Annabeth's heart kicked into overdrive. He could NOT be missing again. She would tear down Olympus herself if her boyfriend was missing. She was not going through that ordeal ever again. She began sprinting around the camp, looking for any sign of him. As she crossed back across the cabins, she saw the little boy from earlier crying on the ground. He sat on the ground, wiping away tears as he wailed.

Annabeth paused. She wanted to keep searching for her boyfriend, but the little boy was tugging at her maternal heartstrings. She couldn't just ignore a child's tears, especially if Percy just happened to be safe somewhere else in camp. There was plenty of places she hadn't checked yet.

With a sigh, she plastered on a smile as she stopped and knelt down, getting eye level with the little kid.

“Hey, is everything all right?” She asked gently. “What cabin are you from?” She asked, looking him over to try and find any sign of his parentage. Once she found his cabin, others could take care of him while she looked for her boyfriend.

He just sniffled. “I don't know. I want my mommy.”

Annabeth frowned, but she noticed his necklace and her blood turned to ice. There were far too many beads for a child his age. What was worse was she noticed a charm that only one camper had. A gift she had made herself.

“What's your name?” She asked, dreading the answer.

“P-Percy Jackson.” The boy answered, still wiping away tears.

Annabeth's stomach knotted. This wasn't good. This was not good at all. Her boyfriend was a child. A kid. Her blood had already turned to ice, but another, almost scarier thought crept into her mind.

“D... do you know who I am?” She asked gently.

The boy looked at her , frowning. “I... I don't...” He paused. “Annie?”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Normally she hated people calling her that, but considering his state she could give him a pass. “Annabeth.” Her heart was soaring at the fact he remembered her. That meant not everything was gone. Whatever had changed him hadn't completely removed who he was.

“Here, let's go see Mr. Chiron, okay?” She said gently, offering a hand. Her hero of a boyfriend was currently a little child. She was in way over her head.

Percy stepped back, pouting and shaking his head. “No! I wanna see my mom!”

“Percy...” Annabeth felt her heart breaking. He looked just like a lost little kid looking for his mom. He was a lost little kid looking for his mom.

“I want my mom!” He said, backing up a little more, looking like he was about to take off into a sprint. “I'm not supposed to talk to strangers... but I know you.” He said, looking confused if he couldn't decide if he remembered her or not.

Annabeth frowned, unsure of how to deal with this. She was never the best with kids, though she had decent practice from her years at the camp. “Okay, let's go see your mom, okay?” She said after a moment, a plan forming in her mind.

Percy nodded, taking the hand Annabeth had offered him.

Gently leading him along, she lead him to one of the fountains. Tossing in a Drachma, she spoke quickly. “Sally Jackson.” She said after her prayer to Iris.

The mist shimmered, before the image of Sally flickered into existence. Luckily she was already up, and was doing some dishes in the morning.

Looking up, Sally smiled at seeing Annabeth. “Well hello there dear. Is everything okay?” She asked, turning off the faucet and drying her hands.

“Hello Sally. Uh... I need you to not freak out. Everything is fine, mostly. But I'm going to need your help here...”

Before she could explain further, Percy had stepped forward, reaching towards the mist. “Mom!” He called out.

Sally's expression turned to surprise, a look of fear crossing her face for just a moment, before Annabeth saw her put on a sweet smile. “Hello Percy, is everything okay?”

Percy just shook his head, balling up his fists. “I want to go home. I don't like it here. I miss you! I want food!” He began to complain, shaking as if he was going to start crying again.

Sally looked like she wanted to take him into her arms. “Shh... honey. It's okay.” Her voice caught in her throat a bit, as she cast a worry glance over to Annabeth. “Percy, mommy is a little far away right now, okay? Now I need you to be a good boy, and listen to Annabeth. She's going to take care of you today. If you behave, I'll even let her give you some cookies, okay?” Sally reasoned.

Percy's eyes widened as a toothy grin formed on his face. “Okay! But they have to be blue!”

Sally smiled, tears threatening the corners of her eyes. “Of course.”

Annabeth stepped forward. “Thank you Sally, I swear to you on the river Styx, we will get him back to normal.”

Sally just nodded her head. “I know you will. Just... keep him safe will you? I know he can be a bit of a handful at that age, but he's a good kid. I promise you.” She said, trying to stay strong after seeing her child forced to such a young age again.

Annabeth smiled softly. “Don't worry, I'm used to dealing with him.”

Sally just laughed. “I know. Keep me updated, okay? Tell him to call me when he is back to normal so I can see it with my own eyes.” Annabeth nodded. “Oh and... take some pictures? I didn't get to take too many while Gabe was around. It's not the same but...” She trailed off, a playful smile on her face.

Laughing, Annabeth nodded. “Okay.”

Sally thought for a moment, noticing the image starting to fade. “If nothing is working try singing!” She called out at the end, just before the image cut out.

Annabeth froze, she wasn't exactly the best singer. Hopefully that wouldn't come up.

“Come on Percy, let's go see Chiron then we can get you some breakfast, okay?” She said, holding out her hand.

Percy stared at her a moment, debating, before he nodded and took her hand, letting her lead him across the camp.

A few minutes later and Chiron was kneeling down on his front legs, looking at Percy who seemed to think Chiron was the coolest thing. He glanced over at Annabeth. “So it seems we found out the effects of the potion.” He said wryly.

Annabeth had her heads in her hands. “Not the worst thing that could have happened, but we need to fix him. I can't be dating a 7 year old.” She said, her tone dripping with concern for Percy. She wanted nothing more than to find a way to cure him.

Chiron offered a small smile. “Certainly not the worst outcome. It seems it was a potion that regressed his age, but his health seems to be perfectly fine. Though his memories seem shaky. He remembered you, but not I nor most of the camp. I fear if we leave him like this for too long he may not regain them all. I'll consult my texts and see what I can come up with to reverse it. For now... supervise him today, will you? You're free from your duties, so just babysit him please. While we have plenty of young campers, I don't feel comfortable treating him like others. Both due to his popularity, and his habit of finding trouble.”

Annabeth nodded. “I'm on it.” She glanced over at Percy, who was currently wandering over towards one of the ornamental spears in the house. Her eyes widened as she rushed over, scooping him up into her arms. Today was going to be a long day, she just knew it.

Chiron just shook his head. “Good luck.”

Percy just looked up at Annabeth, flashing her a spotted grin.

Annabeth nearly squealed with how cute he looked. “Let's go get some food, okay?”

Percy threw his arms up in a cheer. “Yay! I want pancakes!”

Annabeth just laughed, walking out with him in her arms.

About half an hour later, Percy sat happily in Annabeth's lap. The benches were a little low, so he sat on her lap so he could eat comfortably. She just gently played with his hair, watching him with an amused smirk as he made a mess with his blueberry blue pancakes. He also had blue milk to wash it down with. He seemed to be in heaven.

Originally Annabeth had considered trying to hide Percy's... change, but she knew that she wouldn't have been able to keep up the con for long. Too many people knew him and would look for him if he just vanished suddenly. Especially if Annabeth was gone as well. So instead, she decided to weather the storm, though she put up with zero crap from anyone about it. If her boyfriend was stuck as a child, she was going to spoil him until they could fix it.

They had only ate at his table for a little while before the rest of the crew had shown up. Piper had been first, curious as to who the child Annabeth had been eating with was. Her jaw had dropped when she had seen Percy, beginning to freak out before Annabeth could explain. Soon Piper had calmed down as well. She was instantly on board with the idea of spoiling him. At least after being reassured that Percy was in fact okay, and they were working on a way to reverse it. She had taken her seat across from Annabeth, watching Percy with an amused smile.

Jason had been the next to show up, following his girlfriend. Any amusement that may have come with seeing Percy as a kid was drowned out by concern for him at first. Annabeth had assured him as soon Jason was also mildly amused by Percy, at least until Piper started commenting that she wish she could see Jason as a kid.

Not long after, Frank and Hazel had shown up. Frank had been too shocked to properly speak, while Hazel had reacted similarly to Jason. Soon though, she had moved over with a napkin and cleaned up the mess Percy was making with a gentle smile.

Leo had been the last to show up, having slept in late. He took it in stride the best, already getting a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Oh man, I have the best toys for him back in my cabin.” Before Annabeth could protest, Leo had already run off, cackling, leaving Calypso who pretty much reacted like Hazel, beginning to mother Percy.

Piper had taken Percy into her lap so Annabeth could get her own breakfast.

They had all tried to gauge how much of each of them Percy remembered, and were amused by the results.

He called Piper “the pretty lady”, and was rather attached to her. Jason he had quickly announced that he didn't like and called him “Stupid.” This caused Jason to gasp in shock as Piper burst out into uncontrolled laughter.

He called Hazel “Hazy”, and just kept calling Frank cool. He liked them a lot.

When Leo had returned, Percy had remembered his name, but was much more fascinated by the fact he had two new actions figures to play with, ones that would actually beat up each other on their own.

He referred to Calypso as Cally the entire time, and just said she smelled nice and reminded him of his mom.

Eventually Annabeth had finished her breakfast, pouting slightly with all the attention Percy was giving the others while he didn't seem to remember her. “You still remember me, right?” She asked, attempting to hide the hurt in her voice.

Percy had just climbed in her lap, giving her that toothy grin. “You're annabee... annabe... Annabeth! I remember that you're the best of them all.” He said with a snicker.

Annabeth just grinned. “Good answer. Now let's go play.” She said, helping him up as she took his hand and began to lead him towards the beach. She figured she needed to keep him as far away as she could front the archery range, lava wall, and the arena. With his luck, too much could go wrong.

They had decided to take shifts in baby sitting him, letting the others either try to help Chiron come up with a cure, or attend to their various duties throughout the day.

Piper and Jason had decided to take the first shift. Piper was chatting with him in the nearby field, teaching him to make flower crowns while Jason helped. Itching to get some practice in, Jason had moved off to the side to practice his sword play. This of course immediately drew Percy's attention.

Piper glared at her boyfriend as she held Percy's shoulders. They couldn't let him use a real sword, and they were just glad he hadn't realized he had one in his pocket. Eventually after a few tears from Percy, and some quick thinking, Jason had managed to find two wooden practice swords.

Of course Jason just blocked Percy's attack, but apparently losing ten years hadn't done much to curb his enthusiasm. The little boy had been swinging with all his strength, and had no qualms about bruising the hell out of Jason's legs. Eventually Jason had taken the dive and let Percy “defeat” him. Percy stood with one foot on Jason's chest, holding his wooden sword up. Piper of course had taken a picture and clapped her hands. She had made sure to get a camera from Leo right away, there was no way this was going to pass without evidence.

Eventually though their shift ended, and Frank and Hazel had tagged in. Frank had shown him his ability to change into animals, which instantly made him Percy's new favorite boy. Hazel had just laughed, before she had an idea. She quickly made her way across the camp, leaving Percy to continue his piggy back ride on a bear. Normally a poor choice for someone in charge a kid to make, but Frank was responsible.

A few minutes she had returned, a redhead in tow.

“Oh my gods. It's true.” Rachel had said suddenly. Without hesitation she ran over, lifting up Percy and swinging him in a circle. Percy just giggled and cheered, happy.

Setting him down, she giggled as he wandered around dizzy.

Meanwhile Hazel had finished setting up what she had brought. She had gotten some large pads of paper, and a punch of paint from Rachel. Immediately Percy's eyes widened and ran over, eager to start painting. He was about to start, when he paused and set down the brush. He stood up, holding his hands together as he looked up at Rachel and Hazel with large pleading eyes. “Is it okay if I use your colors and paint?” He asked politely. “My mom says I'm supposed to ask first.”

Rachel and Hazel just melted into maternal jellies. “Of course.” Rachel managed to say, laughing as she saw Percy's eyes light up like it was Christmas. He quickly gave both her and Hazel a hug before he settled down and started painting. He was chaotic, but having a blast. He even had Frank change into a few animals for him to paint a portrait of, which Frank was willing to oblige.

Rachel and Hazel settled down, chatting happily about how cute Percy was being while they worked on their own art.

A little while passed, and Leo showed up, dragging a rather large bag behind him. Percy had made an absolute mess, and had spots of paint all over his clothes and cheeks.

At the sight of the bag, Frank had stood up and moved in front of Percy, just to be safe.

Leo waved him off. “Relax, these are safe. I'm dealing with a kid after all.”

Squatting down, he grinned at Percy. “Do you wanna see the coolest toys?”

Once again Percy's eyes widened, nodding eagerly.

Leo just grinned and let out a whistle. The bag opened up and a small army of toys began marching out in a line, one at a time. Percy gasped with each one. “Those are so cool!”

Leo grinned. “I know right?”

Hazel paused. “Did you make all those today? You only found out about Percy being a kid a few hours ago...”

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “Uhh... I may have been working on these for a while.” Hazel just shook her head with a small smile. Percy knelt down, looking at them. “Can I play with them?” He asked.

Calypso just walked up, smiling. “He's surprisingly well behaved.”

Leo nodded. “Go wild! But check this out. Number 1, kick number 2!” The small figures hummed with life as one of them walked over and planted a kick in the chest of another, knocking it onto the ground.

Percy practically exploded with happiness. Immediately Percy had divide out the figurines between Leo and himself as they started shouting commands, getting the two sets of robots to fight each other.

Joining Hazel and Rachel, Calypso sat down with a smile watching Percy.

“It seemed he was much better behaved back when he still listened to his mom.” Piper remarked with a laugh. Calypso and Hazel both laughed as they watched the boys play. Before long, even Frank had gotten involved, being drawn in at the idea of commanding an army.

They continued to fight, calling out commands. Eventually though, one figure took two many hits and when it was punched, exploded into smaller gears and sprayed some oil around.

Immediately Percy burst out into tears, wailing. In a heart beat, Piper had closed the distance and wrapped him up in a tight hug. “Shh it's okay honey.”

Percy just continued to cry, before looking at Leo. “I-I-I'm S-Sorry!” He choked out between sobs.

Leo was just staring wide eyed. He wasn't the best at dealing with crying kids. “It's fine! I can fix it. They were made to get broken after a while.”

Percy slowly stopped crying, sniffling. “R-Really? You aren't mad?”

Leo nodded, grinning. “This is a battle right? The robots are going to break, don't worry about it. I'll fix them up tonight and they'll be just like new!”

Percy wiped away some tears. He was quiet for a moment, making them all pause. “3! Kick 5 in the face!” Soon the battle had started up again, every once in a while a figurine breaking.

Piper had moved back to Rachel and Calypso. The girls were giggling at Percy's joyous expression once again.

After a few moments though, Piper's smile faded. “They can fix him, right? Like, don't get me wrong. Percy is super cute as a kid, but I miss his normal laugh. Plus I don't think I can handle baby sitting duty for years.”

Rachel and Hazel's faces both turned more somber. “Chiron will find a way. Magic made him younger, that means there's a way to reverse it.” Hazel explained.

Just then Annabeth had walked up. “It's lunch time.” She told everyone, looking over Percy carefully. He still seemed fine, which caused her to let out a sigh of relief. In truth, she didn't want to leave his side at all, but she knew the best thing she could do was to help Chiron with research.

Percy stood up and rushed over. “Annabeth! You missed it! Pipes made me a crown! Then I beat up Jason!” This caused a smirk to play at her lips. Even as a kid, it seemed Percy didn't change much. “Then Frank turned into a massive dog!”

“Bear.” Hazel chimed in helpfully.

“Then Hazy brought back Ra... raa...Red! She brought over Red who let me paint! Then Leo showed his toys! They are SO COOL! They can kick and everything!” He continued to rattle off.

Annabeth just patted his hair. “That sounds like you had fun.”

Percy nodded. “But I missed you.”

Annabeth looked away, blushing slightly as Piper and Calypso burst out into giggles at her expression.

Finally noticing his state, she frowned. “You're all messy.” She said, shooting an accusing look at Rachel and Leo, who both shrunk away slightly.

This time Calypso stood up, walking over and grabbing Percy's hand. “Come on, let's go get cleaned up then we can some lunch, okay?”

“Okay!” He said happily as he followed Calypso back towards camp.

“Any progress?” Piper asked Annabeth carefully, noticing the blonde's worried gaze at Percy's retreating form.

Annabeth nodded. “We found a promising lead. It's out of my understanding so Chiron is trying to follow it. Thanks for watching him, he can't sit still as a teen, I doubt he could sit in a library as a kid.”

She paused, before snapping. “That reminds me.” She quickly made her way over towards Percy's cabin, pulling out a coin. Tossing it into the fountain she offered a prayer to Iris.

“Thalia Grace please.”

After a moment the mist shimmered and revealed a raven haired girl packing up a tent.

Thalia noticed Annabeth and grinned. “Hey Annabeth, what's up?”

Annabeth's shoulders drooped as her gaze fell. A heavy sigh escaped her as she felt the tough facade she had been keeping up starting to crack.

Immediately Thalia's grin shifted to a look of concern as she dropped her pack, focusing solely on Annabeth. “What's wrong? Did you have a fight with Percy? Did he-”

Quickly shaking her head, Annabeth took another breath.

“We didn't have a fight... but it is Percy.” She said. She paused for a moment. “I need your help.”

Thalia nodded. “Of course. Now will you tell me what's going on?”

Annabeth nodded. “Well, you see we kinda ran into these monsters. They were having a garage sale or something...”

Thalia quirked an eyebrow.

“Anyway, one of them threw a potion at me, but Percy just had to be a hero and jumped in front.”

Immediately Thalia tensed. “Is he okay?” She asked quickly. She turned her head, barking an order at some other hunters.

Annabeth's gaze dropped. “Physically... mostly. He's... he's turned into a kid.” She spit out.

Thalia staggered, clearly not expecting that sentence. Her gaze rapidly shifted between amused and concerned, before settling on some mix of the two. “He's a kid?”

Annabeth nodded. “Like 7 years old.”

“So not much changed?” Thalia said with a grin.

Annabeth's eyes snapped to her adoptive sister's, glaring at her. “This isn't funny! I'm so worried. What if we can't fix it? What if he's stuck? All because I was too slow to rea-”

“Annabeth!” Thalia interrupted loudly, snapping her out of her spiral. “I'm sorry, I know this isn't a joke. Trust me, I want to help him too. However I can. What can I do, I know you called for a reason.”

Annabeth nodded, running a hand through her hair. “Chiron has an idea of something that might work. But he needs a certain ingredient, a rare rabbit that is in the area... I remember hearing you guys were close. You are hunters after all... I was hoping maybe...”

Thalia just grinned. “No worries, we got this. Artemis just left off for some important meeting, leaving us on break for a little. I was actually thinking about swinging by so I'm in the area. Now describe this rabbit to me again?”

Annabeth quickly went through the description Chiron had given her.

Thalia nodded. “That's what I thought. I know exactly what you are talking about. I'll snag one over and be there in a few hours.”

Annabeth let out a shaky breath of relief. “Thank you Thalia... seriously. I just...”

Grinning, the punk hunter just offered the blonde a warm smile. “Hey, it's okay. We'll fix this. I'll bring you this rabbit and we'll get whatever else Chiron needs. Now I need to go, have fun baby sitting!” Thalia called out before moving a hand through the message, ending it.

Feeling a new surge of confidence, Annabeth moved back towards the dining hall.

This time she saw Percy sitting on Calypso's lap while chewing on a sandwich. When Annabeth showed up his eyes lit up and he quickly hopped down, running over and giving her a bit hug.

Smirking, Annabeth pat his head gently, unable to return the hug since he was wrapped around her legs. “I missed you too. Now finish your lunch, okay?”

Percy nodded, quickly running back and clambering onto Calypso to eat again.

Annabeth sat down next to him, dropping her head into her arms with a small sigh. She found Percy absolutely adorable as a kid, but the more time that passed, the more she missed his more mature goofy smirk. She just wanted her seaweed brain back.

Gently moving over, Piper rubbed Annabeth's back reassuringly.

Lunch came and went, and soon Percy was running through the camp again, fascinated by all the cool “toys.” Leo had to personally steer him away from the rock wall, explaining that Annabeth would throw him into the lava if he so much as let Percy break a sweat from the heat of it.

Not watching where he was going, a few minutes later the boy crashed into the legs of someone, bouncing off and landing on his butt. He sniffled once, holding up his scratched hands. It was clear he was trying not to cry.

In a moment Annabeth had swooped to his side, gently brushing dirt off his hands.

“Watch it ki- Oh, Percy? I heard what had happened.” Clarisse's voice rang out, a teasing lilt in it.

“Not today, La Rue.” Annabeth warned.

Clarisse just laughed. “What? I heard he's fine. He's just finally acting more like his age. It seems appropriate.”

Annabeth stood up, her fists clenching as her hand inched towards the dagger she had on her belt.

Clarisse stared at him for a moment longer, before sighing. “Just... let me know if I can help, okay? It... wouldn't be fun pulverizing him as a kid.”

This disarmed Annabeth. She nodded, surprised. “Okay.”

Just huffing, the daughter of Ares walked back towards her cabin.

Annabeth watched her, tilting her head. Had she actually come to check on Percy?

“So It's true.” Another voice rang out, causing Annabeth to turn around. “Percy really is a child again.” Reyna said, a curious brow raised.

Annabeth ran a hand through her hair again. “Yeah. We're trying to fix that.”

Reyna frowned, crossing her arms as she looked at Percy. “You shouldn't run around camp, you could get hurt, you know? You should behave yourself and stay quiet so they can help you.”

Percy ducked his head, stepping behind Annabeth and hiding behind her, peaking around her legs.

Annabeth rested a hand on his head, gently playing with his hair. She shot a mild glare at Reyna. “You're scaring him, you don't need to be so strict with him. He doesn't know better.” She defended him.

Reyna raised an eyebrow. “And you're babying him. He should be better behaved than that at least. I saw him running all across camp. There are too many dangers here for a kid to be running around. Even campers his age are better behaved.”

Annabeth's eyes narrowed slightly. “They also have had the opportunity to learn what it's like at this camp. From what I can tell, he's still used to living at home with his mom. This is probably like a normal summer camp to him.”

Reyna just rolled her eyes. “You're too soft with him.” She paused for a moment, glancing down at the boy staring at her terrified behind the blonde. Realizing he was making eye contact with Reyna, he quickly let out a small eek before hiding behind Annabeth again. Reyna frowned, before squatting down.

“Hey, I'm sorry for scaring you. Would you like a lollipop?” She said, producing a sucker she had grabbed from the camp store. Strict or not, Percy was still her friend and she was worried about him in such a state. She did want to help him after all. He had done so much for the world, he didn't deserve this.

Percy paused, looking up at Annabeth confused. Seeing her nod with a smile, Percy quickly stepped out from behind her and walked over to Reyna slowly reaching out and grabbing it. He grinned at the blue color as he took off the wrapper. After a moment he had paused, just before it was in his mouth.

“Thank you Reyna.” He said politely before popping it in his mouth. Reyna grinned, messing up his hair a little before standing up.

Annabeth grinned at her approvingly, before placing her hand on Percy's back and leading him back towards the beach. Looking over her shoulder at Reyna, she grinned. “We're having a picnic on the beach. Join us.” She said, not really leaving room for discussion.

Reyna opened her mouth to protest but found Annabeth already walking away, leading Percy along. Letting out a sigh, she adjusted her hair before following behind Annabeth.

When Reyna caught up with Annabeth after changing, she saw Percy already playing in the surf near the water's edge. Hazel had laid out a large blanket while Frank, Jason, and Piper were all setting out food they had gotten from the pavilion. Annabeth stood on the edge of the surf, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her shirt she wore over her swimsuit. Idly, some part of Reyna's mind registered the fact that shirt was too large to be hers and was probably one of Percy's.

Leo was off to the side, assembling something that was looking suspiciously like an ice cream machine, and she even saw Will and Nico off to the side, resting in the shade of the nearby trees. They were chatting happily, bringing a small smile to Reyna's face. She had come to appreciate any time she could see a smile on the boy's face after all they went through. Opting to take a seat near Frank and Hazel, she watched Piper stand up, an amused smirk shot towards Annabeth.

Piper quickly made her way over to Annabeth with a wry smile. “Indecisive?”

Annabeth jumped slightly, having been too lost in her own thoughts to properly register Piper's approach. “Piper!” She squeaked out, before shaking her head. “I'm just not sure how safe I need to be with him. He has no idea he can control water, but I doubt his father would let him drown. He wants to play in the water, but I'm scared if I let him out of my sight he's going to end up playing at the bottom of the sea and we'd never be able to get him back.” She explained with a frustrated sigh. The only thing that could make her worry about her seaweed brain more, would be if he lost control of his powers. Normally she knew he was powerful enough to find a way out of any situation, but she couldn't even count on that anymore.

Shaking her head, Piper threw an arm over Annabeth's shoulder. “Relax. It's just a kid playing on the beach. I'm sure the water will still behave for him, and the Naiads wouldn't let anything happen to him.”

Annabeth looked at Piper, before slowly nodding. “You're probably right.”

“Of course I am.” Piper said with a snicker. It was amusing that the one thing that could cause the level-headed, always prepared Annabeth to get flustered was her boyfriend. Love truly was a scary thing. “See? They're looking out for hi-” Piper started out gesturing towards the Naiads who were approaching the little Percy with a smile. She was cut off as one of them quickly grabbed Percy, before yanking him deep into the water. Both Piper and Annabeth stood next to each other, jaws dropped.

“Surely they're just playing, right?” Piper asked with a nervous chuckle.

There was the sound of scrambling as Jason stumbled up to them. “Was that Percy? Did he just get pulled to the bottom of the sea? Can he even breathe underwater right now?”

Annabeth's hand fluttered around her body, looking for any sort of knife. “That's it. I'm killing them. I'm killing every Naiad in this entire lake.”

Piper was suddenly grateful bikini's were devoid of many opportunities to stash weapons, as she wasn't sure Annabeth needed a weapon on her until they figured out what was happening with Percy.

“Fra-” Annabeth started, pausing as she saw the large boy sprinting down the beach. Getting as far as he could on two feet, she saw him jump before changing mid air into a dolphin. Just as he was about to dive under, the water in the lake exploded upwards.

Annabeth nearly collapsed in relief as she saw Percy laughing and smiling, holding onto a harness as he rode a sea creature. It was fine. The Naiads had just given him a ride on... a...

“Is he on a shark?” Leo asked, raising his goggles and looking up.

Annabeth felt her blood turn to ice again. “They put a child on a shark.” She stormed over to Leo, holding out her hand. “Give me the sharpest thing you have on you. We're having seafood tonight.” She muttered, expectantly.

Leo backed up, raising his hands. “I'm not sure you should be around anything sharp, and that's coming from me.”

Piper quickly made her way over to Annabeth, resting a hand on her friends shoulder as she let a little charm speak slip into her words. “Relax, Annabeth. They're just playing. Percy is having fun and they aren't putting him in any serious danger.” Piper felt a tad guilty on using her powers on Annabeth, but she knew that Annabeth wasn't thinking clearly due to the day she's been having, and she was also pretty sure Chiron wouldn't appreciate a war between demigods and Naiads. Nor would Percy's father for that matter.

Annabeth glared at Piper for a moment. “It's a shark! And don't charm speak me.” She snapped, before she sighed and dropped her shoulders. “Fine. But we're getting him off a shark. I'm not dealing with that today.”

Piper nodded, turning back to see Frank already letting Percy climb on his back as a dolphin, squeaking happily as he began to drag Percy around the lake.

Placing both her hands on Annabeth's shoulders, Piper shoved her back towards the blanket. “Now you need to sit down, have a sandwich, and just relax.”

Annabeth grumbled a bit, but listened to her friend, finally taking a seat. Percy was in Frank's hands, and he was responsible. The blonde had barely sat for a few seconds before she found a plate with sandwiches and chips being placed with her hands, a reassuring smile from Hazel helping ease her nerves.

Annabeth let herself be distracted by the ebb and flow of the conversation, her eyes still practically scanning Percy every few seconds. She still didn't trust the naiads, but Frank was on duty and Annabeth trusted him. He was too big of a softie to put him in any danger. Plus, he had that whole descendant of the sea god thing going on for him too. The water was his terrain.

Eventually Hazel flagged down Frank, telling him to get some food himself too.

Frank swam one last lap before leading Percy back to the beach. Setting him down, Frank changed back and gratefully took the towel from his girlfriend as he began to dry off.

Annabeth quickly walked over, squatting down and toweling off Percy. It seemed he didn't have perfect control of his powers, considering he was still wet after swimming. Percy just giggled and squirmed as he tried to free himself but Annabeth just laughed and kept up her assault with the fluffy towel.

Eventually satisfied that Percy was dry enough to not soak everything on their blanket, she led him over to the food.

Without hesitation, Percy began to pile food onto his plate, with a little help from the others, before he wandered over and sat in Annabeth's lap and began to happily eat it. Letting her eyes shut, feeling him safe within her grasp, Annabeth tried to relax. This day had been taxing in so many ways, she was ready for it to be over. Last she heard, they were just waiting on the delivery from Thalia for the final ingredient before they could hopefully fix Percy.

Percy would be safe. He would be back to normal soon. She would have her normal seaweed brain back. She missed him so much. It just wasn't the same.

Eventually it was getting darker, so everyone began to pack up their stuff. They would have a bonfire tonight, so they had to get ready for it. Frank had been watching Percy while the rest packed up, until Leo had gotten his help dismantling the ice cream machine he had made for a desert for them all.

Percy was standing in place, obediently. His mom had told him to listen to Annabeth, so he would! He would stay put while they finished putting away their toys. Then Annabeth had promised him something yummy. But that was when he saw it.

He wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was small and furry. Biting his lip, Percy felt a conflict inside him. He knew he should behave and listen to Annabeth, but he was so curious. He couldn't get the little creature out of his mind.

The creature squeaked at him, before turning and running towards the woods.

He HAD to know what that creature was. Turning to Annabeth, who was busy helping out Hazy anyway, he muttered a “I'll be right back.” He told her he would be gone, so it was okay, right? His mom always said she just wanted to know where he was.

Turning, he ran off into the forest, chasing the squeaking creature.

XxXxXxXxX

“Thanks for waiting!” Frank said politely to Percy, turning back around. He dropped the wrench he had been holding, feeling his heart stop. “Percy?” He called quietly, looking around. The kid was gone.

Annabeth was going to be furious. He was dead. This was the end of his life. Not that stupid stick, no, it was losing her child-boyfriend.

“Annabeth?”

“Hmm?” She asked, a smile on her face from Piper's joke.

“I can't find Percy.” Frank admitted.

Instantly the group froze in place. They all looked to Annabeth after a moment.

“What?” Annabeth tried to keep her voice calm and level.

“I turned around for a moment, and he said he was going to stay still, but he's gone...”

Annabeth just dropped her head into her hands. Why couldn't today have gone easy, just for once?

“Percy's in the woods!” Juniper said, suddenly emerging from the forest. She looked a bit out of breath.

“I heard what happened, and I just saw him roaming through there, and I don't think he should be alo-” She trailed off as Annabeth sprinted past her, calling out a combination of thanks, and Greek curses to just about everything.

Annabeth stumbled through the trees. He couldn't have gotten far. He was just a kid, and it wasn't like he was trying to run away. She figured he must have found something that sparked his interest. But why today of all days. They had stocked the woods with creatures for practicing hunting just the other day. The woods were far too dangerous for a kid to be wandering in a lone.

Feeling her heart rate kick into over drive, Annabeth was torn between shouting Percy's name for his attention, and staying quiet to avoid stirring any threats that could be nearby. That was when she heard a loud wail.

XxXxXxXxX

Percy scrambled backwards, staring at the large doggie growling at him. It was utterly massive. It had a muzzle on it, but it's sharp claws were still free.

“Mommy! Annabeth!” He cried out desperately, stumbling over branches away from it.

The beast let out a muffled roar as it lunged, swiping a claw at Percy.

Just before it could have struck him, he felt something wrap him up and tackle him away. He let out a short wail as the forest floor scratched him up, but he was suddenly held tightly against someone. All he could see was a mess of blonde hair in his face.

Clutching Percy close, Annabeth was a bit wide-eyed and frantic. She had just barely made it in time, if she hadn't gotten to Percy...

Shaking her head, she didn't have time to dwell on that. They had nearly died countless times before now. She needed to deal with this beast first. Thankfully it was muzzled, but she was still unarmed.

Another muffled roar, and the beast lunged again.

Riptide sprang to her mind, realizing Percy must still have it on him, but it was too late. She didn't have time to find it as the beast lunged. Turning around, she huddled over Percy to protect him and braced for the impact.

But it never came.

Peaking over her shoulder, she saw 3 silvery arrows sticking out of the neck of the hound. It stumbled around in protest, snarling the best it could.

It raised it claws over Annabeth for one last attack when Annabeth smelt the familiar smell of ozone. A second later and the beast erupted into a flash of electricity, before it crumpled to dust on the ground.

Thalia emerged, looking pissed off. For good measure, she shot one last arrow into the beast.

She immediately ran over to Annabeth, carefully examining her, and the boy for cuts.

“Are you two all right?” She asked, a desperate panic in her voice.

Annabeth nodded. “Don't worry, I'm fine.” Stepping back, she was about to check Percy over when she felt Thalia pull her into her arms for a very tight hug.

“That was too close.” Thalia mumbled softly, running her hand through Annabeth's hair for a moment. Getting her fill of assurance that Annabeth was in fact fine, Thalia pulled back and shifted her gaze to the little boy.

Little Percy was just standing there, sniffling as he cried and wiped away tears with balled up fists. “I just want to go home. I don't like this anymore.”

Thalia felt her heartstrings tug at the scene. The boy she usually found both infuriating and admirable was reduced to a terrified kid. She may have sworn of romantic love, but that didn't mean that her maternal instincts were gone. It reminded her of when she had just found Annabeth with Luke.

The sound of a branch breaking somewhere near by, had all of three of them jump. In a moment, Annabeth had Percy in her arms again, as she fished around his pocket for riptide. Thalia summoned her bow again, spinning around. “Now is not the time.” She snarled, not in the mood for any more monsters.

“Peace.” A girl said, stepping out with her hands raised. It was a young girl, dressed in similar hunting gear to Thalia.

Recognizing one of the other huntresses, Thalia stowed her bow. “Tell them to go set up camp. We'll be staying for a few days. I'll let Artemis know of our plans.” She ordered. Thalia watched the girl nod before she turned and vanished back into the woods.

Turning back, Thalia saw Annabeth had managed to stop Percy from crying. At the moment she held him in her arms, his legs around her waist as he wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his head into her neck.

“I've got the rabbit. Let's go back.” Thalia offered gently, carefully watching Annabeth's expression. It was pretty obvious how stressed and emotionally drained Annabeth was. Thalia was extremely worried about Percy, and she could hardly imagine how Annabeth must be feeling after seeing her boyfriend in that state, then almost losing him moments ago.

Annabeth just nodded meekly before she began to walk back. She held Percy just a little bit closer to her, whispering soft reassurances in his ear. “You're so brave. You can go home soon.” She said quietly.

Before long, Annabeth emerged out of the woods, seeing the rest of their little crew. Immediately they rushed towards her, looking both at her and Percy.

“We were looking for you, then the hunters told us you were safe and leaving. Are both of you okay?” Hazel asked worriedly.

Annabeth nodded. “We're fine. We just... need to fix him soon.” She said gently, hoping no one noticed her voice cracking. Judging by their expressions, they did.

An hour later, and Chiron was preparing the potion while Annabeth sat with Percy around the campfire. She had wanted him to get some sleep, but Chiron insisted that he have the potion before he slept for the night, citing that he didn't know if the spell could be worse if Percy went to sleep again. He doubted it was the case, but Annabeth figured better safe than sorry. She wouldn't gamble with Percy's life.

Plus, the boy had been uncharacteristically quiet since the incident, so she had hoped to raise his spirits. It seemed the campfire had done just that, luckily. Percy was happily dancing in front of her as they all worked through their sing-alongs. His shirt was stained with the remains of the smores he had consumed, and a stain from when he had gotten a bit too eager drinking his blue coke.

Aside from having to herd him away from the fire he kept wandering too close to, Annabeth was glad to see him laughing again. She just desperately wished to hear his normal deeper laugh that she had come to adore.

Piper had an arm around her shoulder, reassuringly rubbing it as she also laughed at the young Percy cheering as he waved his arms, currently getting a piggyback ride from Thalia.

Thankfully, Chiron had approached them with a small cup half way through one of their songs.

“It's done. I've had all the best brewers at the camp double check, this should fix him up swiftly.” She handed Annabeth the cup. “Make sure he drinks all of it, to be safe.”

Annabeth could hardly contain her excitement. She had almost started crying at just finally hearing the good news.

“Percy!” She called out, grabbing the boy's attention as he ran over quickly, stumbling a bit.

“What's up Annabeth?” He asked eagerly, before a yawn escaped him. He rubbed his eyes, swaying slightly.

She had noticed his dancing had slowed down recently, she figured his busy day was finally wearing down even his stamina.

“I need you to do me a favor.” She said gently, kneeling down to be eye level with him.

Yawning again, Percy nodded. “Okay. Mommy told me to listen to you anyway.” He muttered, still rubbing his eyes.

Biting her lip, Annabeth put aside how utterly adorable he looked at the moment. Though, judging by the camera flash that happen to her right, Piper had managed to grab a picture to remember.

“I need you to drink this for me. This will help you feel better.”

Percy nodded, reaching for the cup. He smelled it, before he scrunched up his face and shoved the cup back into Annabeth's hands. “That smells bad! I don't want to!” He muttered defiantly.

Suppressing the frustration, Annabeth tried to stay calm. Screaming at the child that he desperately needed to drink it to get back to normal and give her her seaweed brain back wouldn't help the situation. Desperation called for desperate measures. “If you drink it all, you can have another smore, and on our way back to bed I promise to grab you some blue candy. I won't even tell Sally!” She promised.

His eyes widened. “Do you promise? I don't want to get in trouble.” He said, his eyes slightly more awake, and skeptical now.

Annabeth nodded, holding out her pinky. “I pinky promise.”

Percy stared at her for a moment, before hooking his pinky with hers for the promise. “You promised.” He said, before taking the cup.

Annabeth just let out a sigh of relief. So yeah, she bribed a child with a bunch of sweets right before bed to make her life easier. So sue her.

Percy sniffed it once before grimacing again. But he looked at Annabeth, and then managed to quickly drink all of it. He blanched, very clearly unhappy with the taste.

Annabeth quickly messed with his hair, giving him a kiss on the forehead. “Good job! I'm proud of you.”

Percy just grinned. “You promised!” Nodding, Annabeth turned to make another smore when she found Piper handing her a freshly prepared one already. Flashing her a grateful smile, she gave it to the eager child who immediately began making a mess as he tried to eat it too quickly.

Laughing, Annabeth just leaned back and tried to hold back the tears of relief. Percy had drank the potion. He would be fine. He would finally be okay.

A little while later and it was getting late. Normally they would all be up a little longer, but Percy was yawning constantly and sitting patiently at her side.

Turning to her friends, she patted Percy's head. “It's probably well past his bedtime. I'm going to get him in to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow with Percy as good as new hopefully.” They all said goodbye, many of them giving Percy a hug.

Walking back, she was surprised to feel Percy stop walking. “You promised me candy.” He muttered, holding his ground with his tired eyes surprisingly defiant.

Annabeth paused, she had forgotten about that. The camp store would be closed by now. Chewing her lip for a moment, she quickly considered her options.

Scooping up Percy into her arms to save time, she quickly made her way over and found the pair of twins she was looking for. “Connor!” She called out quickly, getting his attention. “I need a favor. I need you to get me some blue candy. I made a promise.” She explained, glancing at Percy who had perked up at the mention of candy.

Connor had a grin on. “You'll owe me.” He said.

Annabeth shivered at the thought. Being in debt to the stolls was usually a bad thing, one that almost always lead to getting in trouble. “Fine.”

Connor saluted, before quickly disappearing into the night. A few minutes later, Connor returned with a bag of candy, amazingly all of it was blue.

Raising it to Annabeth, he smirked. “Your order madam”

Annabeth shifted Percy to rest in one arm as her other one fell to the handle of her dagger. “I swear if there is even one piece of candy that's slightly off in that bag, you will wish you were lucky enough to be forced back into being a kid instead. Do not try me tonight.”

Connor raised his hands in a peace offering. “Hey! This is legit. Didn't even steal it. Tonight, at least. Just trying to get a kid some candy, a noble cause if I've ever heard of one.” He paused, before his smile shifted from mischievous to genuine. “Besides, I do want to see Percy back to normal too. Come on, I'm not heartless.” He offered.

Taken back a bit by his honestly, Annabeth nodded. “Thank you, for real.”

Connor just waved as he went back to join his brother.

Annabeth handed a few pieces to Percy as they made the long trek back to his cabin.

“What now?” Percy asked, as well as he could with his mouth on a lollipop.

“It's past your bedtime. I let you stay up, but you need to sleep.”

Percy's eyes widened as he began to squirm in her arms. She was forced to set him down to avoid dropping him.

“No! I'm having too much fun! I want to go back with Thals and Pipes and all of them! We're having too much fun!” He exclaimed, though his point was weakened by the big yawn he broke into.

“Percy...” Annabeth tried gently, at her wits end.

“No!” He said, stomping his foot.

Annabeth was about to scream. That's when Sally's words popped in her mind. Looking around, she was glad she was alone. “Come on Percy.” Scooping him up, she began to sing softly. She wasn't exactly a good singer, but she hoped it would be enough.

“The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else's lake...” She started to sing softly, swaying him slightly as they walked. Sure the little mermaid wasn't exactly a lullaby, but she knew he knew the song, and it was one of the few songs she knew all the words to from the number of times they cuddled watching the movie while relaxing in his apartment.

Percy's protests gradually grew weaker and weaker, until he was dozing off on her shoulder.

Managing to get him into the cabin, she set him down on the bed and pulled off his shoes and socks to try and get him a little comfier. Tucking him in, she leaned down to kiss his head.

“I love you Percy. Please go back to normal. I miss you, and I need you.” She whispered gently.

Turning back, she moved to go back to her own cabin when she heard his tired, and slightly scared voice. “Annabeth?”

“Yes honey?” She asked, turning around and kneeling next to the bed.

“Can you stay please? I'm... scared. I don't like this cabin. It's too big and dark.” He muttered.

Annabeth paused, looking at his exhausted, yet scared face. Nodding she quickly kicked off her own shoes and rummaged around his cabin for a spare pair of sweatpants. Quickly changing in his bathroom, he climbed into the bed with him.

Percy nestled up against her, and within moments he was fast asleep.

Kissing his forehead one last time, she watched him for a moments, running a hand through his hair. Before long she found herself drifting off to sleep to, praying with all she had that he would be back to normal soon.

Annabeth was more than thrilled to find herself waking up in her favorite pair of strong arms, with a deeper voice gently saying her name.

“Morning Annabeth.” He muttered, a little confused but hardly complaining.

Annabeth just threw her arms around his neck, quickly kissing him.

“Welcome back, Percy.”

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you enjoyed it! I’ve wanted to post this for quite a while, I just never really got around to finishing it. I know the ages in the title aren’t accurate, that Percy would be a little older but I just found it catchy. Also, I’m accepting Percabeth Fluff prompts/suggestions so please send me any ideas, or words, or songs etc if you have any! I’d love to consider your idea and hopefully write something for it!

#percabeth #pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #HoO #I love writing stories like this #It was really fun

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buoyantsaturn · 7 years

Note

HoO au where it follows the plot of the first scooby doo live action movie

guys it finally happened i got to watch the movie and forced my friends to do it with me

its so LONG and its basically just me explaining whos who and why but,,,, if u know the plot then u could get it tbh,,,,, anyway its under the cut

Fred is Jason

bc leader guy and blond and imaging jason being so full of himself that when he literally swaps bodies with piper he checks himself out also i think out of everyone in the group jason would be the one to write a book about finding himself and end up fricken touring the country with it like fred did in the two year mystery inc breakup

Daphne is Piper

is sick of being considered the damsel in distress and starts off as the girl who always gets caught in the traps and is useless then becomes a black belt (in something idk i dont remember) and kicks ass and saves the day

Velma is Hazel

Hear me out here ok so it should be annabeth right bc the smart one but hazel needs more recognition here shes pretty smart herself i swear like at the beginning she quits the gang bc she wants more recognition for her intelligence and finally gets it at the end!!! Also,,, i feel like out of everyone velma says the most outdated slang so,,,,, the most out-of-date person to say jinkies,,,,,

sidenote i always felt like velma and shaggy maybe had a tiny thing going but i feel like this still works bc tbh i kinda feel like hazel had a bit of a cousin crush on percy at the beginning like she knew that was weird and ‘ew no’ but like she super admires and looks up to him so,,,,,,

Shaggy is Percy

imagine,,,,,, pothead percy,,,,,, thats it full truth i think thats all i got here

alternate leo is shaggy and scooby is festus but i like my original plan better bc this one has percy so lets keep going with that one

Scooby is Leo

I was really torn between leo and frank bc frank’s shapeshifting but honestly leo and percy joking with each other on the argo like the two fit together and it would be weird if velma and scooby had a thing so this just works out better in a whole lot of ways ok. Eats anything probably. tabasco flavored scooby snacks. seems like he could be easily tricked into being a sacrifice tbh

Mary Jane is Annabeth

so like yes i put annabeth as the pretty blonde partially bc of percy as shaggy and partially bc of hazel as velma but i feel like,,,,, percy probably gets pretty distracted by annabeth right and would probably completely ignore even his best friend if they said that annabeth was an evil monster right????? so i feel like it fits pretty ok bc that happens in the movie plus i believe i remember mary jane helping them defeat scrappy at the end of the movie so shes not just a pretty distraction ok i promise

Scrappy is fricken gaea literally

disguises themself as someone the gang thinks they can trust???? needs a pure soul to reach full power????? absorbs other peoples souls to gain power and is acknowledged for like 2 seconds toward the beginning of the movie then comes back with a vengeance at the end and the fight scene in the book is probably just about as long as the fight scene in the movie???? yeah gaea is fricken scrappy doo guys

That one guy that got drunk with velma at one point is Frank

just,,,, shows up at the bar where hazel is trying to do some work and they get drunk together mostly on accident and thats most of their interaction but at least hazel isnt in a relationship with a literal dog ok also he shows up again at the end and thanks hazel/velma for saving his life and they hug im sorry frank u deserve so much more but this is all i can give u in my limited character list

The real owner of Spooky Island is nico

nico who is locked underground in his own domain (on his own island, in this case) by the evil scrappy gaea and looks like literal garbage when he escapes with the help of his buds the seven and also the place is called Spooky Island guys nico owns the place

also i just really wanted to include nico in here somewhere ok i cant leave out my boy

this was,,,,, at some points very easy and at others,,,,,,,,,, impossible,,,,,,,,,,

i really hope these were worth the wait and i also really hope i did the correct live action scooby doo movie bc theyre not really numbered????? anyway thanks for suggesting this its been haunting me for months and im so glad for it

#was that within 24 hours???? the world may never know #i almost didnt do this one originally bc i asked for solangelo prompts not hoo but........#i couldnt resist #boy i really hope nobody comes to kill me if these come off as out of character #i mean if i die then no college loans #either way its whatever #mine #pjo #hoo #im dying scoob

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itsomgitsgreenblogging · 7 years

Text

Break My Heart: Chapter 6 (A Solangelo Fanfic)

And here we have part one of the final day in the infirmary, as well as the end of the first act of this fic. I’m actually really proud at how soon I managed to update this. I’m putting this down as a victory.

I hope you enjoy!

Read on Tumblr: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five

Read it all on AO3

Preview:

“Why do I need to bother with that?” Nico asked, obviously not interested, but continuing to drink his smoothie.

“I don’t know, do you ever want to grow?” Will asked him honestly. “I’m not the one who’s going to be responsible for stunting your growth at two inches.”

“I am not that short,” Nico said with a scowl.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you from all the way down there.”

Suddenly a pillow was smacked against his head and Will was sent sprawling on the ground.

“I never liked Annabeth…I…I liked Percy Jackson.”

Will liked to think that in general his ADHD wasn’t as bad as say, Antonio who had a hard time keeping still, or Violet who would talk your ear off in a million directions. However, his brain shut down and went into full impulse mode. He grabbed Nico’s hands and blurted out,

“You liked Percy Jackson? Me too! What was it? The green eyes? The curly hair—oh! Oh! It was the sexy intense bad-boy expression right?”

When Will finally actually looked at Nico, he was outwardly staring at Will, as if Will had just offered to take Nico unicycling over burning coals while singing God Save The Queen backwards and in Spanish while in matching tutus. Will’s face burst into heat as he let go of Nico’s hands and stared up at the ceiling, trying to collect himself and the shattered illusion that he wasn’t an absolute wreck of a demigod.

To Will’s shock, Nico stifled a chuckle. He tried to hide it for a few moments before bursting into gut wrenching laughter, laughing so hard that he was wiping tears from his eyes. It took him a few tries to collect himself, but by that point Will was smiling along with him.

“Sorry, sorry, that just really took me by surprise,” Nico admitted, his low voice still warbling with the remnants of his laughing fit, fanning his face which had taken a pink tinge. “If I had to answer though, it was because he is a hero. The first one I ever saw, and I thought he was the coolest person I had ever met in my whole life.”

“Percy Jackson is a pretty cool dude,” Will promised him seriously. “Decently crush worthy.”

“But...you know…I accepted it, and when I did that I kind of grew out of it, if that makes any sense. So there it is, my tragic first love story,” Nico said, seemingly resigned about what seemed to have been a great ordeal. Will didn’t know much about Nico’s actual Tragic BackstoryTM, but he had heard whispers. What Nico was saying had probably been harder than he was letting on, and Nico was brave for that. It made Will admire him more…in a very platonic way obviously.

“Was that what you were talking about with him?” Will asked as he rested his hands on his knees to keep from doing something stupid again.

“Well, I admitted after the battle what I basically just told you but…he wanted to talk. Mostly apologize for things.”

“For what?”

“Well, for example he tried to kill me a few times, or at least made a serious attempt once and then wanted to kill me a few other times,” Nico said with a very nonchalant shrug. Will stared at him, and then realized that though sometimes with Nico it was hard to tell, Nico definitely wasn’t joking.

“Wait, he seriously tried to kill you? And you still liked him?” Will asked as he squinted at Nico.

“He also thought that I had betrayed him at that point, but yeah. Choked me out and everything.”

“Nico, seriously, you still liked a guy who tried to kill you?”

“I’m working on the self-worth thing,” Nico half-whined, rubbing his temples, before looking at Will with seemingly saintly patience. “Listen, that doesn’t come over night. I’m not the main character of some shitty novel. We’re demigods and besides that we’re Big Three kids. Sometimes baser natures take over and we just react. I know that better than anyone. I know those aren’t great excuses, but that’s what happened. Percy apologized for that stuff and I forgave him, that simple. We’re going to try to work on being friends, and that will be nice for a change.”

“I’m not going to say I understand, but I trust your judgment on that,” Will said, feeling oddly defensive of Nico and the situation he had been put in. But he had also been friends with Percy for years, and knew it wasn’t his nature to just lash out either. The grey area Nico was describing probably really did exist, and Will would just have to trust that they had worked through it. “Still, I’m sorry you were put in that position. That must’ve sucked.”

“Yeah, it really did,” Nico admitted, and Will could tell that it was hard for Nico to explain how bad it must’ve been. “I never really wanted to…come to terms with my feelings. Gods, that was part of the reason I was always getting into these giant messes. But running doesn’t suit me, Jason and Reyna both helped to show me that, and…you seem so happy being out. At peace. To feel peace…I would like that. Talking with Percy today was my third real step.”

“Third?”

“First was telling Percy how I felt. The second was…” Nico stopped himself and looked away quickly. “Forget it.”

“Was it becoming friends with me?” Will asked teasingly, pointing at himself. When Nico didn’t respond Will felt a large smile break out across his face. “Aw, Death Boy, that’s so nice. I think I’m going to throw up kittens and rainbows.”

“Shut up,” Nico grumbled, still refusing to look at him. “You are out and friends with…with gay people. I just thought it would be a good idea to have an ally is all.”

“Well I’m happy,” Will promised him. “That’s a great honor that you’ve bestowed upon me. I’ll take it very seriously.”

“Gods you are such a weirdo,” Nico said, looking annoyed.

“But you are friends with this weirdo.”

“Nope. Nevermind. I’m not.”

“Sorry, you can’t just take back the friend check I’ve already cashed it in my friend bank and it’s nonrefundable,” Will said with a shrug and a sympathetic look. Nico just scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide his yawn. “Tired?”

“Yeah…I guess that conversation took more out of me then I thought,” Nico actually admitted which maintained Will’s smile.

“I’ll let you rest then,” Will said as he stood up. “And I’ll let you know when dinner’s coming.”

“Hey…Will?” Nico asked as he pulled up his covers. “Thanks for…not freaking out or anything.”

“No problem.”

The first thing that Will did as soon as he left the infirmary for that evening was to high-tail it to where Lou Ellen was standing by the edge of the campfire pit, wrap his arms around her, and scream into her shoulder while jumping with her up and down.

“Oh my Gods what is happening?! Who broke Will Solace?” Lou Ellen cried out as Cecil looked on at the outburst with amusement. Will let her go and tried to compose himself, but found it much more difficult than he had been expecting.

“I think I figured out my dream,” Will told them both before clarifying, “well, I can’t tell you what maybe I think it’s about because privacy issues but I think I figured it out.”

“Uh, wow, vague answer much,” Cecil noted, eyebrow raised at him.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just so relieved,” Will said as he stretched, letting his sweatshirt sleeves dip and pressing up on his tippy toes. He felt the evening air cool and sweet against his face, the scent of campfire and cut grass and deep woods a gentle and wonderful in his breath, and it was all wonderful. “I feel refreshed.”

And he ought to. He figured out what had been weighing on him for two whole days. Obviously what Nico had not wanted to do anymore was keep his sexuality a secret. Will was comforting him like a friend and Nico was ready to move on. Obviously. This was it. No more reason to push, no more reason to worry. Done. Finished. Will had figured it out. Will wasn’t going to fall in love and get his heart broken, nope, Will had taken on a role of dear friend and confidante. And if those thoughts sounded like he was just trying to fool himself, Will was just facing reality. Reality. Yep. Nothing else to see here.

“Not to rain on your parade but…there was kind of a situation,” Lou Ellen said regretfully, patting Will’s shoulder.

And that’s how Will ended up waiting outside the Aphrodite Cabin with two bags of makeup that had been responsible for the simultaneous makeovers of the dumb campers who had dared to steal them from the cabin; i.e. the Stolls, Alice and Julia, and Antonio. Will hadn’t needed to know that Aphrodite Cabin and Hecate Cabin had a collab on some hexes and makeup, nor wanted to see what that would create, so not he was not happy. Not a single bit. In fact it was safe to say his good mood was completely ruined.

This was especially the case when Drew walked up, obviously pissed but still making her tee shirt and jeans look fabulous. She glared at him darkly, as if he insulted her by just being in her presence. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, showing off her rings on her fingers and turned up her nose at him.

“Piper,” she muttered under her breath. “That little no good thieving—“

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Will interrupted, earning another seething glare. “I’m just as happy about this as you are, trust me. If I could, I would ignore the situation. But obviously that isn’t working for either of us. So how about we do this instead? Do you want to tell Piper why we don’t get along, or should I. Because if we don’t she’ll keep trying to make peace between us, and we both know you don’t want that.”

“Oh please, sweetie. I don’t care about my dirty laundry, not enough to give my meddling sister ammo to use against me,” Drew sighed softly and sweetly, her lips colored a bubblegum pink. Will gritted his teeth, knowing that she was attempting to goad him. Ammo? Him? Was that all he was to her?

“Fine, I’ll take responsibility since you are incapable of doing so. A running theme I’ve found,” Will snapped, trying to channel his most calm and composed self but finding it difficult. “Not caring about actual leadership, not helping your siblings in any meaningful way, not actually coming up with a good excuse for hurting me just blaming everything on an outdated hazing ritual—“

“What you saw was what you got, honey,” Drew said as she motioned to herself before crooning as if he was a child, “is Silly Willy still all sad because he got dumped.”

“Yes Drew. I was sad for a while, but I’m not sad anymore about anything but you. Forgive me for thinking that maybe, just maybe, that we had something worth a damn and for knowing that you are more than some Empousa with a better hairstylist like you like to make everyone think you are, but seeing that the image of the impenetrable Drew Tanaka is more important than anyone else will ever be,” Will just sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes. “Your act didn’t work, no one followed your lead, and now you’re knocked down a few pegs and just looking for cheap shots. Honestly Drew, you just exhaust me. Take your makeup and let it rest.”

“Why? So you can go back to your boyfriend who you’ve got all holed up in the clinic?” Drew asked angrily, her perfectly plucked eyebrow twitching. He took satisfaction with the idea that he had needled her just a little.

Will felt his rarely there temper begin to boil over.

“Drew, seriously, you either drop this or prepare yourself. Choose your words wisely,” Will growled at her, feeling his battle honed instincts begging to be kicked in. Will wasn’t a fighter, not by nature, but he certainly wasn’t a push over. He had just about had enough of Drew’s bad attitude.

“Make me,” Drew challenged him, seemingly just as ready as he was.

“Apollo versus Aphrodite, next game of Capture the Flag. And you can tell Piper how she got herself into this mess when Clarisse la Rue and I kick your butts into next year,” Will announced to Drew and anyone within ear shot, his control cracking like ice on a warm day.

“I don’t know what’s happening but hell yeah!” shouted Mark Wilkinson, one of the Ares kids from across the green as he dragged a dozing Clovis from where he had fallen asleep. Clovis’ slumbering body knocked over a couple spears which sent the child of Ares swearing like a sailor. Will pressed his palm to his face.

“Shit Solace, I'm proud of you. Way to finally stand your ground, and what a way to cash that favor I owe you for Ellis. Ares cabin is with you all the way," Clarisse said as she grasped his arm before walking away with her posse of siblings following close behind, giving hoots and hollers to Aphrodite Cabin. Piper hadn’t looked up from where she was resting her head against the table the whole breakfast, and the rest of the cabin was looking pretty pissed at Drew who primly tore apart her toast as if she had no clue what was happening.

Will collapsed back on his seat heavily. This sucked, and Will wasn’t happy. He had every reason to be, but he wasn’t.

"You didn't follow your What Would Grandpa Vernon Do rule, did you?" Cecil asked him suspiciously from the seat across from Will. “That was impulsive, even for you.”

Will winced at that as he toyed with his beads. Will had grown up tucked away from most of the world with his Grandparents in a place called Abundance, Texas. It had been a wholesome normal upbringing by any stretch of the imagination, until he had almost died in a monster attack. The ruse was that his mother had wanted a stable life for him, away from fame and touring. And thought it was definitely a part of it, it was mostly because of the horrible things that lurked in big cities and the bad things that kept happening.

His grandfather was the town's patriarch. A stern, but caring man who had raised Will alongside his Grandma Florence. He could almost see his grandfather in his mind's eye, tapping his booted foot, crossing his arms over his pastor garb, narrowing his grey-blue eyes and drawling, "what in God's green earth do you think you solved with that little temper tantrum William Elijah?"

He missed him, and Will swallowed that tinge of homesickness as he considered mental Grandpa’s advice.

"That's the problem, as my pastor he would probably admonish me for giving in to my anger and not listening to my good sense. As my Papa, once, he almost stabbed a man with a spork when the guy said something disparaging about my mom. And when I mean almost, I mean it was in his hand and prepared to be plunged," Will explained as he mimed the action of Spork-Assaulting to Lou Ellen and Cecil before sighing. "Do you understand my problem? Papa sent me mixed messages."

“Will…” Lou Ellen said to him, tapping her black-painted nails against the picnic table, obviously trying to find a way to help but seeing nothing.

“Can I count on Hermes and Hecate? I know Piper’s going to recruit Jason and Percy, and she’s in talks with Athena Cabin. And I also know that Jake Mason owes Annabeth after she found those scrolls for him so I think Hephaestus is going to them too.”

“Don’t worry, bro, I’ll talk with the Stolls. But considering last night’s debacle, you got an ally with Hermes Cabin,” Cecil promised him and offered a fist bump.

“I don’t like the way Drew talks to you, I think some pig bombs are in her future,” Lou Ellen said with another fist bump, before returning to her table with a wave. Cecil turned around and relayed his news to his siblings who began happily discussing plans.

When Will finally got to the infirmary after dealing with his siblings, he felt like he had already been through a whole day. His favorite patient, i.e. his only patient, was sitting in bed reading. Will smiled at Nico, but quickly noted the shadows like rims under his eyes, filled to the brink with darkness.

“Didn’t sleep well?” Will asked him, thankful to focus on something that wasn’t himself. “Nightmares?”

Nico shrugged and closed his book, which seemed to be his answer. Will tried to read the title but it took a few moments for the words to come together into something he could actually understand.

“Tolkien, eh?” Will asked him. “Going with a brother of mine is always a good choice.”

“J.R.R. Tolkien was a son of Apollo?” Nico asked, seemingly startled by that revelation.

“Is it that surprising that a man that obsessed with poetry and language could be a son of Apollo?” Will pointed out to him as he took his hand, feeling out with his powers for Nico’s state. “Unlike our father, some of us have to be half way decent at it. So? What do you think? Like it so far?”

“I think I do, a lot of the names and words keep making it difficult,” Nico admitted before huffing, sounding very frustrated. “My dyslexia isn’t usually so bad.”

“You are also sleep deprived,” Will pointed out to him. Thankfully the darkness hadn’t built back up in his system, though he wasn’t about to talk to Nico’s ear off about the absorption qualities of magic muck. He checked Nico’s wounds and saw that the steady doses of ambrosia and nectar had healed up his outward injuries, with a day of rest and food, Will might even able to confidently discharge Nico the next morning. “Good, besides the sleepiness. I had the nymphs fix you up something for breakfast.”

Will offered the bottle of smoothie he had kept in the fridge. Nico took an experimental sip before finding it palatable enough that he didn’t try to kill him.

“What’s in this thing? Besides strawberries.”

“Well besides our camp-grown strawberries, it has quick oats, banana, yogurt, milk, and honey in it. It’s a good recipe and has everything you need for the most important meal of the day in drinkable form,” Will pointed out as he sipped his own smoothie. “I figured smoothie breakfasts would be a good way to go for a while, I’ll print out the action plan I made for you, but basically the gist is to get you to gain healthy weight in a way that won’t make you want to kill someone. Three meals a day, and post work out snacks since I know that as soon as you get out of here you are probably going to be hitting the training fields. I’m sure it’ll feel a bit like bootcamp, but as soon as you are in a healthy weight zone it’ll just be about maintenance.”

“Why do I need to bother with that?” Nico asked, obviously not interested, but continuing to drink his smoothie.

“I don’t know, do you ever want to grow?” Will asked him honestly. “I’m not the one who’s going to be responsible for stunting your growth at two inches.”

“I am not that short,” Nico said with a scowl.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you from all the way down there.”

Suddenly a pillow was smacked against his head and Will was sent sprawling on the ground. Will leveled a halfhearted glare at Nico, who sat as proudly as any king upon his throne, looking at Will from over his sharp nose as if he were a mere peasant who had dared to insult his royal person. Will just shook his head with a smile before pulling himself up on his feet.

“Oh, hello,” a voice greeted. “Am I interrupting something?”

Will looked over to see Jason Grace standing in the hallway, carrying a backpack. Good looking guy, though, not Will’s type at all. Maybe it was the blonde-blue-eyes thing, since Will couldn’t really ever see himself flirting with a dude who could be his cousin (not that they weren’t related as all Greek and Roman demigods were technically somehow related but not physically and genetically…it was all rather confusing and everyone just chose to ignore it for their own good). It might have also been that, though Will knew that Jason had loosened up quite a bit since he had first been introduced at CHB, he was still a rather serious and honorable guy, both perfectly fine qualities but Will had always preferred boys who knew how to cut loose and joke.

Like Nico di Angelo? His brain unhelpfully supplied.

Shut up, you. We’ve solved this. Don’t do that.

“Nothing important,” Nico told him, cool and composed.

“How is he doing, Will?” Jason asked, intently scanning Nico’s face as if searching him for illness and disease and injury.

“I’m right here, Jason,” Nico said crossly before Will could answer the question.

“And I trust Will, who is not only a counselor but also the head healer of the camp to give it to me straight. Unlike you, since I actually know what you are like,” Jason pointed out to Nico’s chagrin, who slumped back in his bed with a pout.

“Damn Romans and their regard for authority,” Nico muttered under his breath. “You are just as bad as Reyna.”

“Nico’s actually doing much better,” Will said holding his hands out and waving Nico down. That seemingly defused the other’s annoyance. “His infections are gone and the darkness isn’t going to make him disappear if he isn’t stupid about it. Like I was just explaining to Nico, we’re mostly going to be focusing on maintaining health and gaining weight once I release him.”

“If you could give me the plan too, I would be really grateful. Just so I can make sure this one stays on track,” Jason said with a jerk of his head towards where Nico was sitting, blowing bubbles into his smoothie, obviously ignoring the two of them. “It’s important to keep Nico honest, otherwise he’ll just avoid.”

“You see Will, everyone lies, but people only get up in your business about it if you are a child of Hades. That’s what I learned,” Nico told Will bitterly. “Double standards, all of them.”

“I didn’t come to argue, just know I care,” Jason said seemingly giving up for the moment, before turning to Will as he sat down on Nico’s bed. Nico made a show of glaring and looking like he was about to hiss at him, but there wasn’t much actual heat in it. “Talking about arguing, I heard about what happened with Drew, Will. Can’t say I’m not sympathetic. Just wanted to let you know that before our team wins at Capture the Flag next week.”

“Capture the Flag?” Nico asked, his interest piqued. Will groaned, his nightmare still seemingly unfolding no matter where he went.

“If you were really so righteous you would join my team. They already have Percy and Annabeth. Why do they get you too?”

“Boyfriend duty,” Jason said and Will made a face. Nico was still obviously confused, and Will decided for the sake of everyone it was just easier for him to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.

“Basically me and Drew got into it last night. The challenge was put forth,” Will explained the less gruesome version to Nico.

“I can’t believe you used to go out with her,” Jason said with a shudder, shattering Will’s hopes of keeping it less gruesome. Nico blinked, obviously absorbing the information slowly.

Will looked at Jason Grace for a moment. Somewhat hurt, somewhat surprised that a guy so powerful and with so much prestige could be so utterly clueless. Then again, considering Jason’s infamous love triangle situation, Will figured that love wasn’t Jason’s strong suit. It wasn’t Will’s either, but still. Any guy who was dumb enough to get himself into a love triangle and then stay in it for a while because he was indecisive wouldn’t get it.

“I went out with Drew because at the time I liked Drew. Even if our relationship is over and Drew is difficult I was always true to myself,” Will told him sternly and completely unamused, donning his head counselor tone. “I know everyone would like me to be happy about this, but I’m really not since I basically fell right into what Drew wanted. I’m going to work things out with her somehow, either on or off the Capture the Flag game, but in the meantime, I don’t appreciate the implications of what you just said. You owe me an apology. Now.”

Jason was staring at him with outward shock like Will had just slapped him in the face with a dead fish. Will realized that Phoebe was right, he did the authority of a praetor when it came to Romans. If only he could shock his siblings into silence too. Nico’s mouth twisted into a savage sharp grin that cut wide and wild across his face and sent pleasant shivers down Will’s spine.

“Jason, you might want to apologize. Not only does Will historically have no fear when it comes to Big Three Kids, but he’ll also be the one stitching up your team after we kick your sorry butts,” Nico di Angelo announced, propping his feet on Jason’s lap, looking like a cat who had gotten the cream. “Will’s my ally, so I’m going to be his.”

“Singing Sirens, di Angelo is on our team! Yes!” Austin cried, and Emma, Violet, and Antonio who were peaking in from down the hall began jumping up in down and slapping high fives. Someone began blasting DJ Khalid from the front, and Chiron’s voice echoed as he tried to reprimand over the music.

“I really walked myself into that one, didn’t I?” Jason said, looking legitimately sorry and with a small nervous grin. “I’m really sorry, Will. Seriously. When Piper decides to skin me, will you consider healing me?”

“I’ll even do it free of charge and with a complimentary lollipop,” Will said with a smile of his own. Nico reached over to pat Jason’s shoulder and Jason accepted it like a good sport. Maybe this wasn’t going to be all bad, Will thought to himself. Just maybe.

#Solangelo #Solangelo fanfic #Nico di Angelo #Will Solace

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blahblahblippyblah · 7 years

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Solangelo: First Day of Camp

This is my first Tumblr post, and it’s the first part of a little series I’ve been writing about the adventures of Nico and Will after Blood of Olympus and into Trails of Apollo. The first chapter is mostly fluff with almost everyone in the Heros of Olympus series. I promise lots of Solangelo to come.

Yes I know about the spelling mistakes. I wrote this on my phone since I’m currently doing field work, and my laptop doesn’t have Internet.

Warning contains fluff of Percabeth, Jasper and Frazel.

First Day of Camp

Nico walked into his cabin and slid down the closed door. He titled is head back and smirked. Today had been the one of the best days of his demigod life.

It was his first day out of the infirmary. He has spent several days there under the watchful eye of Will Solace while he recouped from using too much underworld magic. He had almost faded into the shadows permanently. That morning Will gave him one last check and said he was good to go, and not to push the shadow traveling. “That means staying at camp for awhiel” Will smiled with a smug face. Nico attempted to smile back at Will. He hadn’t smiled in so long it felt unatural. The healing son of Apollo had been so nice to him the past 3 days.When Nico ate lunch or dinner Will would pull up a chair beside Nico’s bed and talk to him about pretty much everything. He wanted to try and show him he appreciated everything he had done.

His smile must have been pretty awkward looking, because it made the smug look fade off of Wills face and turned to pure amusement. Crinkles appeared around his blue eyes. His skin was tan, it made him look like he was glowing. He had lots of freckles across his nose.The bright blonde hair didn’t help with the glowing. Maybe all children of Apollo glowed. Nico caught himself staring and lowered his head. Will was very good looking, and sweet, and kind, and funny, and kinda annoying. Kinda like apollo now that Nico thought about it.

Stop thinking like that he thought to himself. Will was way out of his league.

“Thanks for everything Will” Nico said.

“No problem. It’s what I’m good at. Healing demigods. I guess my siblings got the lame gifts from my dad” he joked. Nico did his awkward smile again, “I’ll see you around”

“I’ll see you at the campfire tonight. Promise to save me a seat?”

“Sure. I’m not much for the campfire though. I don’t sing.”

“Don’t worry about that I’ll sing enough for both of us”. He gave a dazzling smile. Nico felt himself flush a little. “Anyway, see you” Nico said as he jumped off the bed, and hurriedly grabbed his sweater leaving the limfimary.

When he got outside he could see that the sun was almost all the way up. Campers were already beginning to head down to the dinning Pavillion. Nico followed suit.

For breakfast he had some eggs over easy, toast, chocolate milk, and some orange slices. Pretty much his perfect breakfast after McMuffins. He scanned the dinning Pavillion and then went to sit at the Hades table. When he sat down and was about to dip his toast in his eggs Jason came and sat across from him with Piper.

Nico smiled again. He liked Jason. The guy was pretty much the only friend he had at camp. Wow he was now up to 1 really close friends. He was gonna have to pace himself as to not get too popular. He smiled at his own joke. “Sword practice with me and Percy after lunch? If the big three cabins team up could be alot of fun.” Jason offered sounding excited.

“Sounds great. I’d really love to get back into practice” Nico said.

“Then if you want Nico the Aphrodite cabin is helping rebuild some cabins do you want to help?” Piper asked.

“Ya, sure I guess.” Nico didn’t know how he could help. He wasn’t that great of a decorator, especially compared to the aphrodite kids. Nor was he as good at architecture as the Athens kids.

Piper smiled. Nico felt himself smiling again this time he didn’t need to force it, it just happened.

Piper then went on telling Nico and Jason about her plans for making the new minor god cabins Jason had promised to build feel more homey.

After breakfast Nico followed Jason to the sword arena. Percy must have been there already there his bag was laying on the bench. They looked around and couldn’t see him. Mrs O'Leary was in her corner eating a large bowl of food. She looked up as they walked in and wagged her tail excitedly. Nico walked over and scratched her ear as she went back to devouring a truck load of kibble. “Huh, I wonder where Percy is? He can’t be far” Jason thought out loud.

Jason went to open the equipment storage room to grab some new dummies and quickly shut it again.

“What?” Nico asked.

He walked forward and opened the storage room door before Jason could stop him. Percy and an Annabeth where leaning against a hanging punching bag very much entangled. They where trying to hope away from each other but with no luck. Percy’s feet were tangled in a celestial bronze net that had fallen on the floor. Annabeth tried to push him off but all of Percy’s weight was against her. Eventually she managed to push him down sideways and quickly brushed her hair with her finger to fix it so it didn’t look so messy. She lowered her head and made a small cough. She quickly got out of the areana without even in ‘Hey, sup?’. Percy looked up from the floor at Nico and Jason. His face was really red but he smirked proudly. He stumbled up and kicked off the net.

“So it would be great if you didn’t tell Chiron about that”

Nico nodded with a smirk.

“Fine I won’t tell Chiron, but I kinda have to tell Piper. She’ll just love that” Jason chortled. “Whatever there Mr.Perfect. Maybe it would do you some good to break the rules once and awhile. I’m sure Piper would appreciate that.” Percy tried to chirp with a half irritated half amused voice.

“What happens between Piper and I is between Piper and I…. and probably her mom” he said.

He didn’t seem very thrilled about that last part. One if the downside of dating a daughter of the love God. “Annabeth tells Piper everything so she probably already knows” Percy said.

“Let’s save Percy some dignity and get to practicing.” Nick said with a smirk as well.

Sword practice left Nico feeling sore and extremely sweaty. On the bright side he had managed to beat the snot out of Percy after losing embarrassingly to Jason the first round. Percy seemed pretty tired. Nico wondered if it had anything to do with sneaking around early in the morning to snog Annabeth.

At lunch Nico sat with Frank and Hazel. The twelfth legion was leaving after lunch to head back to New Rome. Hazel and Frank were so cute with each other. Frank held her hand under the table hoping that Nico wouldn’t notice. When Nico turned around he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Frank would sneak kisses on her tempel. He was so happy Hazel had found the big gallout. He may look like a buff war commander, but he was rally just a giant cuddly teddy bear with her. It made him feel better about staying at Camp Half Blood. Frank would keep her safe. Not that she needed Frank. She was perfectly capable of cutting down anyone who angered her. But it was his sister and you just never get over the feeling of wanting to protect your siblings.

Nico patted Frank on the back and kissed Hazel on the cheeks and said his goodbyes. “Hopefully I’ll see you sooner than you think. I’ll stop by new Rome whenever I can shadow travel again.”

Nico then headed towards the cabins. There the Athena kids had set up a bunch of tables that had building instructions and plans laid out. Annabeth was talking the Piper about the plans. She pretended the closet incident hadn’t happened. But Piper gave Nico a smile and rolled her eyes.

“So Nico we were wondering if you wanted to help the Hermes kids rebuild the celeing on the Zeus cabin.maybe you can scare them into being prodictive” Nico nodded.

“I can do scary”

The Hermes kids were the most unorganized bunch of half bloods Nico has ever had to work with. Only a third of the cabin did any work at a time. Most of the time they were trying to prank each other by sneaking fake spider down backs, flinging paint at each other, and trying to steal things from unsuspecting passers-bys.

“I have a better idea. How about we make other peopel do the hard work” Nico said to Annabeth.

Connor Stool came over and said “Anything to make this go quicker. I don’t think I can keep getting paint thrown I my mouth”

Nico concentrated. He felt to see what was far below him. Hmmm some bones of a squirrel, farther down something that felt like a drakon, then BINGO. He raised about 8 ghostly skeletons. Where they came from he didn’t know. Sometimes he felt as if skeletons just showed up whenever he was looking for them.

“Do whatever Annabeth here says to fix the cabin” he ordered. He looked over at Annabeth.

“There all yours” Anabel smiled as if she was impressed. The aphrodite kids a d some of the Hermes kids looks scared yet interested. Annabeth started giving out orders.

Nico sat down against a tree and watched as his skeletons took over the build. Summoning those skeletons had made him very tired. Probably a repercussion from overusing his powers. His head swam slightly. Piper passed him down some water.

After the build was complete the skeletons crumbled back into the earth. One left a giant blue patch in the ground when he melted from the bucket of paint that the Julia Fiengold had ‘accidently’ dropped on it.

At dinner Nico grabbed a burger and some fries. He dropped half his fries in the fire saying a quick prayer to his dad. As he was walking back to his table a bunch of campers waved at him, and said hey. One guy from the Hepheastus cabin even fist bumped him. Nico felt awkward and uncomfortable again. He wasn’t use to people being so nice to him. Maybe coming back from a super dangerous quest made you instantly popular?

He ate quickly and then went back to his cabin. He quickly changed and showered. Then threw on a black wool sweater. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. He headed down to the campfire. A few people were already there. Nico looked around for Will but saw no blonde hair among the group. Then he quckly looked down at his feet. What was he doing getting all excited to see Will. He was being stupid. Jason and Piper came up behind him. Jason sat beside him and Piper sat down in the grass. She laid her head against Jason’s knee.

She started humming a song Nico didn’t know. It was kinda catchy yet sickening (like all campfire songs). Once she stared humming most of campers stopped taking and started listening. Although she didn’t mean it her charm speak often wove into her singing making everyone want to stop and listen. Jason stared playing with a piece of her hair.

“We don’t even have to try, it’s always a good time” Jason chimed in out of tune. Piper smiled widely. The sun had gone down and her face shone beautifully in the fire light. Jason leaned down the kissed the top of her head and she began to sing too. “Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, whoa- oh-oh” Soon others had joined in. An Apollo kids pulled out an acoustic guitar. How cliché Nico thought as he moved his head to the rythm. Never on beat tho.

Soon they were singing clasic campfire songs. The ones that were super annoying yet really fun to sing.

About two songs in Will Solace sneaked up behind Nico and plopped down beside him. There wasn’t much room and he ended up knocking some Ares kids backwards off the bench. The Ares kid looked pretty mad, but then they decided to get revenge later and went and sat with some pretty Aphrodite girl. Butterflies stated flapping in Nico’s stomach once Will sat down he was squished in so he was touching Nico. Nico was having trouble calming those stupid butterflies.

“You said you would save me a seat” Will teased.

“ I did. But I wasn’t going to tell that big Ares kid to go somewhere else”

“I’m just poking fun at you. No big deal. So has anyone started Bohemian Rhapsody yet?” he asked.

Nico didn’t know what that meant. “UMmm I don’t think so yet”

“Great” he smiled “It’s the only song I’m any good at. Don’t have the natural music talent like my brother”. He pointed to the guy with he guitar.

Will was right he wasnt a good singer. But he sang so enthusiastically it didn’t matter.

At one point during a song called 500 miles Will placed his arm around Nico’s shoulders. Not on top of his shoulder like Jason would do to annoy Nico. No w Will’s arm was around his shoulders. His hand was lightly holding his arm on the other side. Nico stiffened. He didn’t like being touched. Will kept holding him. At the corus everyone started bouncing up and down in their seats. Will took this time to pull Nico a little closer while everyone one was per occupied. The buttefflies that had begun since Will sat down started doing backflips. Nico tried to relax and let Will pull him a little closer. He looked over at Will. He was practically shouting the corus like everyone else.

“ DA DA DAH!” one side would shout. “DA DA DAH” the other side would shout back.

Will noticed Nico looking at him form the corner of his eye. He gave a small side smile at Nico. Nico turned red and tried to join in the shouting that was passing off as singing. He was slightly behind so that he would be still going for half a second after everyone else. Jason had been watching the whole exchange. He winked at Nico. Nico threw him a face.

As the night drew in Nico got very tired. It had been a very long day. Sword fighting and summoning the dead took alot out of a person. His head nodded slightly as he fought to keep his eyes open.

Eventually during the song We Are Never Getting Back Together he noded off so strong his head rested on Wills shoulder. Once the song was over he snapped out of it and jumped up.

Will shook him slightly. Smiling like an idiot. His face was glowing in the camp fire light. “Can I walk you to your cabin before you fall asleep right in the middle of the sing along?”

Nico nodded, and got up with Will. They walked beside each other towards the cabins. It was pitch black away from the campfire. Nico had no problem, but he noticed Will kept tripping slightly when the ground went uneven. His hands had retreated to his Hoodie pocket. They seemed to be clenching and twistung in one another. Once they got to the Hades cabin Nico went to say thanks and goodnight, but Will spoke first.

“UMmm hey Nico. I was wondering…… UMmm I mean if you not busy… Or maybe not interested. ….. But I was hoping….. UMmm mm. I’m kinda stupid at this…. UMmm. would you like to spend the day with me with me tonorrow its the day off… And UMmm. I kinda wanted to spend it with you…. I mean if u want…. UMmm if your interested that is?”

Nico paused for a moment. The butterflies in his stomach had migrated to his throat making it hard to talk.

He managed a weak “ya…..Id love to.”

Will smiled then quickly turned and practically ran back to the campfire. Nico walked into his cabin and slid down the closed door. He titled is head back and smirked. Today had been the one of the best days of his demigod life.

It took him a little while to come to his senses and head to his bed . Maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad after all.

#solangelo #nico di angelo #will solace #percabeth #jasper #frazel #heros of olympus #percy jackson #trials of apollo

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totesmccoats · 7 years

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Batman #33

To close out the last arc, last issue, Catwoman accepted Batman’s engagement proposal. In this arc, she has to meet the last supervillainess that Batman proposed to.

Honestly, seems like a weird hazing ritual for Batman to force on Catwoman. “Thanks, for marrying me – but first, we gotta go to the desert, break a whole bunch of laws, and upset multiple Justice Leagues so you can meet – and possibly be murdered by – my ex.” Unless this was Catwoman’s idea? Sounds like it could’ve been her idea.

Back at the Manor, Alfred breaks the happy news to the Robins (and Duke), who don’t exactly take it well. Especially Damian, who blames himself, and is also the only Robin to realize that this involves his mother.

And, as weird as the premise is, King has not let Batman down yet, and this issue promises another instant-classic arc. He opens the issue with a scene right out of a western: Batman on a horse, handing a shotgun to Catwoman, who uses it to put a second horse out of its desert misery before continuing on their trek across the desert. Then, immediately cuts to Jason Todd wrestling with Ace for his jacket back in Wayne Manor. The Manor scenes really highlight how much the Robins have been missing from King’s run on Batman by demonstrating how well King writes each of them in dialogue with each-other, from Dick telling Duke about the cow in the basement, Duke criticising Jason for telling him to lighten up Batman, and Damian – the youngest one there – dismissing all of them as children until cracking under the news.

Joelle Jones is killing it on art, with a thick inky style that puts everything in high-contrast and gives Batman and Catwoman’s desert adventure a two-fisted pulpy feel. It admittedly doesn’t translate too well in the Manor, where the extreme shadows can’t be explained by a desert sun beating down on everything. Bellaire perfectly matches Jones’ lines with flat – almost cell shaded – saturated colors that also convey the extremes of the desert.

My biggest issue with the book, and it’s not this book alone, is that Damian is still drawn as just a white kid. Like, they show Talia – his mother – as a brown woman, and yet Damian doesn’t look like he has a hint of middle-eastern/south-asian in him. I know that in real life not all children of multiracial heritage look like a half-and-half combo of their parents, and some traits are more dominant than others; but in a medium where diversity is an issue, I don’t see why DC doesn’t take advantage of having one of their more prominent characters having a mixed race heritage to actually depict a person with that background in their art.

Superman #33

Superman has just gotten comfortable with Luthor flying around and Metropolis’ other hero, when Lex is forcibly summoned to Apokolips to reclaim his throne as God of the planet (See: Darkseid War). Lex tries to contact Superman, asking for assistance, but Supes ignores the messages, believing them to be frivolous invitations to listen to Lex brag; that is until Lex forcibly brings Superman, and by accident Lois, and Jon, to Apokolips.

I am really not used to Superman and Lex Luthor being friendly with each-other, as they are in the opening to this issue. It’s honestly kind of disturbing. Just feels wrong. But the following scene, where Lex inner monologues to himself about becoming the people’s newest and native-born hero, and their increasing dependence on him; that’s peak Luthor. That’s the Luthor that makes sense to me.

This isn’t the best opener to an arc, mainly because the back half is Superman refusing the call to action twice, essentially just stalling the story and filling up pages so that we can end on the cliffhanger of family being split up on Apokolips.

Still, we haven’t gotten a good Superman on Apokolips story in a grip, so maybe this’ll be it. Sucks that it’s probably definitely going to compare badly to the other current Apokolips story going on in Mister Miracle tho.

Green Arrow #33

Having crippled the Ninth Circle by taking out their satellite, Oliver returns to Seattle – now Star City – to find it almost completely remade in the vision of its new corporate overlords. Historic and cultural areas have been razed and replaced with luxury high-rises that have pushed out the middle and lower classes. And Green Arrow returns only to find himself defending one of those overlord-developers from an activist threatening to literally crush him under one of Seattle’s oldest trees that the developer wants to cut down anyway. Things have changed.

Meanwhile, Oliver is still under trial for the murder of a woman who – twist! – is still alive; and despite what Star City has become, the Ninth Circle is still disappointed by Moira Queen and Broderick’s progress, giving them a vote of no confidence; and Dante is also back, and hiring Shado for one last job on behalf of the Circle.

Percy continues his amazing run on the series, effortlessly setting up multiple story threads for this new arc, while developing the political backdrop of the new uber-capitalist Star City that Green Arrow will confront philosophically and physically through the story. Green Arrow’s been one of the more fun, solid, and smarter books since rebirth, and Percy seems poised to continue that trend.

The standout of the issue is artist Jamal Campbell, who previously worked on the fantastic Green Arrow #27, and who I hope stays on this book for a long time. His work is comparable to Francis Manapul’s, but a touch less stylized, preferring to use less dramatic curves compared to straight lines and angles; and a more toned down palette that does reflect the sort of lighting you would see in a cloudy north-western city. This is not to say that Campbell doesn’t have a sense of the dramatic. His designs for the various masks for the Ninth Circle are all fantastic, like some sort of dark zodiac, each of them brimming with style and personality. And he dips into the style of a steamy romance novel for his title page, where a shirtless Oliver lifts Dinah, who wraps her legs around his waist, over a bannister to give her a kiss. And then there’s the scene where Shado fights off a squad of ninjas, where every kill-shot has it’s own stark white-on-red panel. If DC’s smart, they’re gonna want to give Campbell whatever books he wants.

Wonder Woman/Conan #2

As he slumbers, Conan dreams of the day he had spent with Yanna as a child, climbing mountains with the dark-haired daughter of a tribe of exclusively women. In the waking world, he is chained to another dark-haired woman who calls herself Wonder Woman. He tried to rescue her from a life as a gladiator servant only to get captured himself, and now the two will be forced to fight to the death. But it seems that another power has other plans for the Barbarian and the Amazon. And they have other plans themselves, with Conan winning the fight but refusing to kill Wonder Woman; which gets them both thrown on a pirate ship as forced labor.

Thankfully, Diana does have more to do this issue, even if it takes her a majority of it to remember her name. Simone actually writes a neat joke involving her name; Conan saying something with the words “Die Yanna” next to each-other gives Wonder Woman pause. But even if she has more to do, and takes the lead by the end of the issue, this version of Wonder Woman still feels underdeveloped, perhaps owing to her existence still being a bit of a mystery box. Considering how much time this issue devotes to the young-Conan and Yanna flashbacks, it’s gonna be weird if Diana isn’t somehow related to her. It also doesn’t help that she spends a good chunk of the issue not talking.

There are fun moments in this book, like a crow-lady biting a man’s fingers off for soliciting her, Conan waking up to discover he held Wonder Woman’s hand all night, or Wonder Woman bonking a man in the face with his own lute; but overall characterization is so thin – and mostly delivered by 3rd person narration – that it’s hard to really care about the protagonists. It’s a weird issue for Simone to have as a writer, who usually doesn’t presume empathy in her stories. Maybe it’s because this is a limited series crossover?

Another niggling thing – Wonder Woman’s breasts are distractingly large in this book. They’re bigger than her head and like, perfect spheres. This is bad, like, even for comics – even for Conan comics.

The Wild Storm #8

Marlowe gives Angela the sparknotes version of what he and HALO are doing on Earth, which conveniently leaves out anything she might find threatening about why they came here, and gives her full access to his resources in exchange for her data. Meanwhile, King’s team at IO have made a breakthrough by uncovering Cole Cash’s identity, and are planning their next – possibly treaty-busting – moves of their own.

And in Amsterdam, we’re introduced to two more characters resembling but not identical to those from the previous Wild Storm. The first is Shen Li-Min; the latest incarnation of The Doctor (not that one), who uses her powers to psychedelically heal people by taking them on vision quests. The second is one of Shen’s patients, who her session doesn’t quite work on because she’s not exactly human. She’s a techne named Jenny Sparks.

Despite another issue full of exposition, including the introduction of two new characters, it’s Davis-Hunt and Buccellato who really get to flex their muscles with sequences involving interstellar travel, two psychedelic trips into character’s minds, and one visit to an extra-dimensional hospital. I’m mostly familiar with Davis-Hunt’s horror work, and am glad to see that he can do bright and colorful and trippy just as effectively, even if there remains a twinge of the uncanny even among his bubblegum pink skies. And you *know* that more than one person is going to get a tattoo of Spark’s heart – because that is one badass visual.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #5

At the top of the issue, Vulture kidnaps Mason and blows up his lab while Spider-Man and Mason’s assistant, Uatu, are still inside. And Teresa only manages to escape by grabbing a prototype web launcher and hitching a ride with Vulture. And while she rescues Mason, Spider-Man has to confront his most dangerous nemesis: heavy rubble.

That’s right, it’s a recreation of everyone’s favorite, Spider-Man #33. But, Peter’s better at this now, so it’s not that big a deal. What is a big deal is that now Peter’s got two people he has to hide, Teresa and Mason; and because of that photograph, the authorities will be looking for him, too. Luckily, he may be getting some help from an unexpected source, J. Jonah Jameson.

This isn’t Zdarsky’s strongest issue, probably because of the sense of urgency in this part of the story, which doesn’t leave room for the types of asides and extended character beats that often give his work their pop.

Kubert, however, must have found something inspiring in the script, as he does some of his more interesting work in this series so far this issue. I particularly like his use of framing things in the reflections of Vulture or Spidey’s mask; and Kubert also illustrates some really good of Spider-Man emoting through his mask, really showing him struggle while lifting heavy rubble, for instance.

Kill or Be Killed #13

And we’re at the issue that closes the circle, bringing us to the cold open all the way back in #1, with Dylan going through the mob base, shotgunning everyone in his way. But before that, a revelation. Just before the shootout, Dylan had been obsessed with the demon, and decides to look through his dad’s stuff to see if there’s any more information about it. But he discovers something else entirely: a half-brother from his father’s first marriage whose suicide lines up perfectly with when his father started drawing the demon. A demon born out of one suicide by a man who committed suicide, and revived by his other son’s failed suicide attempt. Dylan isn’t one to miss a pattern.

But what I find more interesting than this new discovery is, again, how radically Dylan has transformed as a character. His obsession with the demon begins when he thinks to himself how proud the demon would be by his murdering two people in three weeks. And upon learning about his brother, and reminiscing on his father’s isolated and disappointing life, he is overcome by anger rather than sadness or empathy. Dylan’s obsession with the demon feels more introspective than otherwise, him unconsciously looking into how he so easily became a murderer.

Phillips illustrates this transformation subtly, by putting Dylan’s face in shadows more often than not, and especially when there are other people in the panel whose faces remain unobscured. Besides quite literally illustrating Dylan dwelling in darkness, it also creates a visible distance between him and other people. And the transition in style, from the series’ main style to the more photorealistic illustrations done in-universe by Dylan’s father is impressive as it always is; though it’s weird to be leafing through a comic on the subway only to suddenly be looking at a sci-fi pin-up.

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #5

The final collection of Bitch Planet shorts done by guest creative teams, who get to paint their own corners of Kelly Sue and De Landro’s dystopia, and one of the strongest.

The first story, by Matt Fraction, Elsa Charretier, and Nick Filardi is a brilliant twist on the “grandma/pa during holiday dinner” story. Kimmy brings her boyfriend, David Zeiss, home for his first Christmas, but warns him about her Grandma, who says some crazy things. But, instead of being anti-semitic, Nanna instead interrupts with stories of lesbian experimentation in college, and how women used to have their own jobs and weren’t just pleasure machines for men. It’s delightful! And, I honestly flipped back to the cover to see if the art was done by Bruce Timm, who’s style I want to say definitely inspired Charretier’s own; though she thankfully doesn’t give every man and women the exact same proportions.

The second, by Jon Tsuei and Saskia Gutekunst, follows two friends, one white, one asian, as they audition for the same role in a movie. If you even barely follow any actual Hollywood news, you can probably already sense where this is going. Gutekunst’s art in this isn’t really my taste; she uses a kind of manga-light style with soft colors and gradients. It fits the narrative because of the whitewashing story-line, but it’s just looks like a half-step in one direction, and another half-step in another.

The last story, by Nyambi, Bassey, and Eyang Nyambi, and Chris Visions is a doozy that creates a link between appropriation of black culture and beauty with the police violence against black bodies. When a white girl goes full blackface to join her friends at a danceclub, she gets pulled over by cops and can no longer rely on her whiteness to get out of a ticket – or much much worse. It’s the most Twilight Zone story in this anthology series so far, and one of the best encapsulations of the idea that America loves black culture and hates black people.

Comic Reviews for 10/18/17 Batman #33 To close out the last arc, last issue, Catwoman accepted Batman’s engagement proposal. In this arc, she has to meet the last supervillainess that Batman proposed to.

#batman #bitch planet #conan #dc comics #green arrow #kill or be killed #peter parker #spider-man #superman #triple feature #wild storm #wonder woman

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