#im cooking something that Percy is not ready for >:]

[smol-bean-boi13]

Been thinking about Raph and cute clothes……

Main masterpost - Echoed masterpost

[11queensupreme11]

Does cu chulainn have a favorite daughter and also CAN U GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF LUISNE AND CU CHULAINN OR HER WITH HER BROTHER PLSLS🙏🙏😭😭 IM DYING TO SEE HOW THEY INTEŔACT

cú chulainn does have a favorite lowkey but because he's one of the yans who actually loves his kids, it's not that obvious. it's not like poseidon who makes it DAMN obvious that his fav kid is percy. cú chulainn's not blatant with it and it's more like "this kid's my favorite cuz she causes me the least panic" and not like "this kid is my favorite because she's the only one i love, i couldn't care less about the other worthless children" (like poseidon LMAO) 😭😭😭

since i don't have the other kids' personalities ready yet, i can't say which would be his fav

AND AS FOR THE LUISNE ONE, I NEED MORE SPECIFICSSSSSS 😭😭😭

i can list out these fun facts tho:

luisne once demanded tanzania, brazil, and russia because they produce the most gemstones or certain ones that she likes. cú chulainn ACTUALLY was gonna take over those countries, but percy stopped him 💀

luisne eats with gem-encrusted utensils. she also eats with gem-encrusted bowls, plates, goblets, etc

luisne once cried because cearbhall sat on one of her tiaras and his stupid fat ass broke it. cú chulainn yelled at him 😭😭😭

her first word was "GIMME 👹" and she was pointing at some random goddess' ruby diadem. cú chulainn snatched it right off the poor lady's head so he could give it to his baby 💀 percy was not impressed

luisne has an entire floor to herself at the palace and over a hundred rooms on that floor are full of her things

she is a kleptomaniac, but not the sneaky kind 😭 if she sees something she likes, she takes it and doesn't care if anyone sees. it's hers now. people let her do it because if they try to take it back, her daddy would kill them 😭

everyone is terrified whenever her birthday comes. because percy is percy and she loves her kids, she ALWAYS celebrates her babies' birthdays every year. luisne's birthday parties are terrifying because if she doesn't like a present, cú chulainn would actually try to kill the gifter for daring to give her a "bad present" 💀

cearbhall and cú chulainn kill at least 50 servants per year because they did something luisne didn't like (didn't clean one her gems well enough, didn't prepare for her a dress she liked, etc.). the reason the number's so low is because percy is sometimes around to actually stop them 💀

when poseidon or beelzebub are nearby, she actually behaves and sticks close to her parents or siblings. this is because those two genuinely scare her 💀💀💀 they've never done anything to her so dw, but they're just TERRIFYING to be around 💀💀💀

when she was little, she ate a diamond but they didn't taste good so she decided not to eat her gems anymore

she DOES however, eat meals with edible gold leaves. all her meals henceforth have gold leaves. percy incorporates gold leaves into every meal she cooks or bakes because she knows luisne likes them 💖💖💖

when cú chulainn learned of this, he had no idea wtf that was and got her an actual leaf made of gold for her to eat and she got angry and threw it at him 😭

she doesn't like any of the luxury brands in midgard because they're too ugly and cheap for her 😂😂😂

[t1oui]

im in rarepair hell rn but hey, the fact that adrian pucey/theodore nott has multiple oneshots where they're the main/only couple on ao3 is a blessing on its own, right? especially the fact that one of those is really exactly how i think of those two... but ANYWAY if anyone else is stuck in my situation it's adrian/theo headcanon time!

first of all im a dumbass and didnt realize theo is canonically in draco and harry's year so i write him as a year younger than percy weasley and just in percy's year bc... idk man he's smart and started school early okay. adrian is the same age as percy btw. ok now to actually start the headcanons

theo is basically a cat. if he could be a cat just sleeping for 20+ hours and then getting cuddles, eating, and biting people he 100% would do it

adrian on the other hand is an extrovert, a very hufflepuff/gryffindorish slytherin who nobody dislikes

adrian falls first and then they both trip and fall down one of the moving staircases

your typical "everyone knows they're dating but them" couple (their friends actually cry happy tears when they get together)

btw their friends are penelope, marcus, percy, and oliver. they're in percy's year for a reason !!

adrian participates in penelope/marcus/percy/oliver's shenanigans bc penny and percy always find a way to drag him in, theo is just tired and wants to sleep (he's always there to help if he's really needed tho)

adrian always stays back in the dorm with theo to make sure he gets up on time and doesn't miss breakfast

theo is shorter than adrian. he's not short and adrian is pretty tall but yeah

(perfect height for forehead/nose kisses and leaning his head on adrian's shoulder)

which he does bc theo would never admit it but he is CUDDLY. adrian loves it

they're not really a pda couple but when they're with their friends... they're kinda a pda couple. not kissing or anything (they really don't kiss super often, and they almost never kiss in front of people bc theo's uncomfortable and doesn't really like the sensation of kissing that much) but just cuddling and always touching in some way

adrian loooooves hugging theo from behind and theo always kinda ignores it but he wraps his arms over adrian's and uGH i love them

they cook together

theo steals adrian's sweatshirts/clothes in general and it's so obvious bc all of adrian's clothes are too big on him

theo is ace, or at least on the asexual spectrum somewhere, and he struggles a lot with this even before he and adrian get together

even before they start dating adrian is always there to help theo talk through stuff and make sure theo knows he is and will always be loved and being ace won't change that

they truly are such best friends to lovers

theo is seriously injured during the war, hit with a spell of some kind, and he and adrian just hide out in a safehouse together (i won't say more bc i have a lot of very canon-deviant headcanons for the 2nd war but i do have a oneshot w those headcanons that focuses on draco malfoy & has a lot of percy cameos + some mentions of adrian and theo)

adrian is the only person allowed to call theo theodore other than penelope

theo used to think that adrian had a crush on percy and/or penelope and that there was something going on between them and he was soooo jealous

he really bottled it up but he was pissed

theo bottles up most of his emotions and he really only expresses his emotions w adrian

bc of all this repression expressing any emotions makes him pretty tired so adrian is always ready to take care of theo when he's emotionally worn out (this usually means candy, blanket forts, books, movies, etc.)

adrian loves reading to theo and theo loves being read to, it really calms him down

theo almost never smiles but he actually has one of the prettiest smiles known to man

(one of the first times his friends see him smile is on his and adrian's wedding day)

adrian and theo elope right after the war (they have a big ceremony for the sake of their families later on. theo doesn't like it nearly as much as their first wedding, but he's still marrying adrian, so he smiles there too)

btw penelope officiates their first/original wedding... idk i just think yall should know

she probably just shouts "now kiss!" when they say "i do"

whenever theo misses a social cue adrian explains it to him in a way that doesn't make theo feel bad

tbh my theo is generally very neurodivergent/autistic coded so yeah adrian is generally making sure theo is comfortable and everything

as i said earlier theo doesn't really like kissing and hates making out/anything with tongue bc he doesn't like the feeling and so adrian always gives him lots of forehead, cheek, nose, top of the head etc kisses

(theo loves it)

(he looks annoyed but he's very clearly leaning towards adrian to ask for more)

theo feels bad for not really kissing or having sex bc he thinks he's not enough for adrian and he's keeping adrian from these experiences. he especially struggles w this when they first get together and adrian is always quick to give theo a hug and remind him how loved he is

theo gets overstimulated really easily (part of why he doesn't socialize often, aside from him being a massive introvert) and he also has adhd so he often forgets to bring things like noise-cancelling headphones or a soft sweatshirt with him

so adrian carries this stuff around and gives it to theo when he needs it

sometimes theo is nonverbal/feels more comfortable being nonverbal but he feels pressured to talk or type or write or whatever and adrian helps him relax and remember he can take care of himself and take breaks

theo wearing adrian's quidditch jersey (even before they start dating)

something something theo stealing adrian's blankets/pillows bc they smell like him

listening to music together

always being sooo excited for each other when one of them accomplishes something/is generally happy or proud of something

i've never thought about trans theo but i recently read a masonyew fic where michael is feeling super dysphoric about having a fem body and jake is gay panicking all over again bc michael's even more attractive somehow and it makes michael have an easier time accepting himself and. THAT BUT THEO/ADRIAN OKAY where theo is michael and adrian is jake

idk just generally trans theo where adrian carries around pads/tampons/painkillers/chocolate

have i mentioned how much these two cuddle. RAHHHH

theo runs cold adrian runs hot = theo in a blanket burrito while adrian cuddles him but doesn't participate in the blanket burritoing (not that theo would share the blanket anyway) bc otherwise he will 100% overheat

also just. adrian cuddling theo to warm him up and theo randomly accosting adrian bc personal heater

adrian giving theo back/shoulder massages (theo has terrible posture and it does not help his chronic back pain)

idk man they just love each other so much

soz guys this was probably really nonsensical and ranty i just need to talk about them or i will combust. PLEASE PLEASE ask me about them i need to get more people on the adrian/theo train

[klipserz]

So back to listening to my Percabeth playlist that's full of yearning and it's just a bunch of songs that fits so well to their arcs in the books or just the characters and more songs about yearning. Let me just say, I think I cooked with adding "Rewrite the Stars" in this playlist. And with that song playing reminds me a bit of Titan's curse where Athena talked to Percy for a while and from what I remember she sorts of looks down on him and said something about how he's a son of Poseidon and their beef and how she dislikes his friendship with Annabeth (ALSO FIRST OF ALL, YOU DON'T GET TO BE THE MOM YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IM SORRY) and now that made me think tangentially of what they're gonna do with that in the show. I think that will be very interesting to watch, how Athena is gonna be depicted. I mean so far we've only known her from what she did with Annabeth, sort of like this very authoritative, never present mother and that's partly because she's embarrassed because she is also a dutiful daughter of Zeus.

So I do want to see more of that for her, not because her decisions are influenced by Zeus but just her in general. I'm sure she's gonna hold her children to a standard, and that includes particularly Annabeth. So Athena having that conversation, would they lean more into that or would she be just this help to Percy more than she was in the books. But from what we're already seeing from her, maybe she could be the former.

And that will be very interesting for Percy. Because I'm sure by that time he's becoming aware of his feelings for Annabeth. Probably at that moment he was ready to tell her that but Athena talked him into just not doing it lmao, warning him of their relationship. And the lyrics for Rewrite the Stars fit so well.

And I do want to see something that sort of parallels Season 1 Ep3, their confrontation, when they started off on the different ends of the spectrum, not really seeing eye to eye when they first met and getting Medusa to really challenge them to confronting their relationship again, but this time on another level that could potentially be something more than just being friends and this time, no one in between them to put them against each other, just them facing it head on. And now I'm just picturing that moment, probably before they got their dance on Olympus, they could use the same words again from that episode. Percy could be hesitating to ask her for a dance the whole time. Annabeth could say something along with the lines of "we're not our parents until we choose to be". Eye contact then they dance. Wow. That's gonna be a moment.

Also love the fact that this train of thought was merely triggered by playing Rewrite the Stars lmaoo this is like a whole script or a fanfic

[ashtxrie]

HAI ASHHHH!!!

first of all can u pick a random greek myth.... any of them u want..... smiles devilishly as i push a strand of hair behind my ear... 😈

second i have an english presentation tmr. wish me luck!!

third im once again in my hater era bc tell me why this kid from freshman year is telling ppl that i am a pick me girl. first of all i am a girl kisser i do Not engage in pick me activites. second... WHO EVEN IS THIS GUY?? everyone knows him as the guy who smells like piss and cologne but other than that i dont even remember how he looks like... like if ur gonna come for me at least be relevant. EYE ROLL

also its lowk getting severe bc i went outside today and i first thing i thought was "what if ash litereally just walked past me and i didn't know" ur on my mind 24/7 fr

xoxo vanya kisses your forehead

HI VANYA i’m actually so excited w what ur gonna cook up because HOW DID YOU KNOW i went through the most severe of greek mythology phases for a solid 5 years of my life…

i’m gonna go with eros and psyche!! their story is lowkey so interesting.. (though the best version is still the one from percy jackson's greek heroes)

good luck with your english presentation omg i bet you’ll do great !!! spring break is ending for me tomorrow and i am Not ready to put myself back into academic settings…. please like i just want to watch my silly little enhypen tiktoks <//3

and who is this dude…. the audacity??? why is he starting things…. why does he think he’s the shit 😐 that’s kind of embarrassing for him !!

to your last statement,, you’re so real for that because every day i go what if i did something embarrassing and vanya saw me oh my god 😭 we need that high school au classmates! ash + vanya interaction

[burnt-eggos]

ooh yeah seems fun!!! thanks for the tag @theplasticwalmartbag speaking of which I love your user

Hi thank you for the tag @veralinnn

1- Coke or Pepsi?

COKE! COKE! COKE!

2- Disney or DreamWorks

Idk I mean dreamwork has been SLAPPING lately but I also love Elsa she is a gay queen

3- Coffee or Tea

If I'm at Starbucks its coffee a hundred percent, but if I'm at home I'll drink a cuppa w my gf

4- Books or Movies

Neither. TV series :)

5- Windows or Mac

I AM AN APPLE GIRL FOREVER MAC

6- DC or Marvel

I mean.. tom holland is fine as hell and Joe's joining the MCU and Alice posted a marvel drawing the other day so MARVEL

7- Xbox or PlayStation

I'm a Nintendo/animal crossing/mariokart girl

8- Dragon age or Masse effect

Idk what they are 😶

9- Night owl or Early bird

I guess I'm an early bird because it's 1am... haha it's a joke I'm a hundred percent a night owl

10- Cards or Chess

Cards I love cards super fun

11- Chocolate or Vanilla

(to quote Kit Connor) CHOCOLAHH!!!

12- Vans or Converse

Converse way better then vans much better support

13- Lavellan, Trevelyan, cadash, or adaar

Kit Connor

14- Fluff or Angst

FLUFFFFFFFF <33

15- Beach or Forest

I live next to a beach

16- Dogs or Cats

MY DOGS AND NELLIE AND HENRY

17- Clear sky or Rain

RAIN ALL THE WAY!!!

18- Cooking or Eating out

I love baking, but I CANNOT ever be bothered to cook so as long as it's not me cooking... cook.

19- Spicy or Mild

MAKE IT HOT HOT HOT (I'm jk I am a mild queen forever)

20- Halloween, Samhain or Solstice, Yule, Christmas

MY CHRISTMAS TREE HAS BEEN UP SINCE SEPTEMBER

21- Too cold or Too hot

🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵- I love summer

22- if you had a superpower it would be

fire bending I am superior

23- Animation or Live action

Live action mostly

24- Paragon or Renegade

what the hell is that

25- Shower or Bath

SHAHWAHHH

26- Team cap or Team iron man

TONY STARK YES

27- Fantasy or Science Fiction

I like both!

28- do you have three favourite quotes and if yes what are they

YOU SAHID WE SHOOD SIHGN IHT! -Kit Connor

uh... ✨oui?✨ - Kit Connor

✨IM HAVING A PROPER FULL ON GAY CRISIS✨- Nick Nelson (also Kit Connor)

29- YouTube or Netflix

Heartstopper lurks in the shadows of my room tv and begs for me to use... Netflix :)

30- Harry Potter or Percy Jackson

Ready... get set... Joe Locke... NEITHER

31- When do I feel accomplished

When the dance teacher gets me to do the combo as a solo to the class 😎

32- Star wars or Star trek

Ive only ever watched wars

33- Paperback or hard cover

Boner cover

34- Live in a world with either no music or books

OH GOD NO I CANNOT PICK

35- Who was the last person to make you laugh

Person? nooo idea haha

36- City or Country side

I am a city girl forever

37- Favorite Chips

RED ROCK DELI HONEY SOY CHICKEN OR RED ROCK SWEET CHILLI SOUR CREAM

38- Pants or Dresses

I love my trackie dackies so pants (tracksuit pants in Australia)

39- Libraries or Museums

Libraries are so aesthetic bro

40- Character Driven Stories or Plot Driven Stories

Some character driven stories are absolutely sick but I like both

41- Bookmarks or folding pages

I love collecting bookmarks but I need a heartstopper one...

42- Dream Job

Film Actress or director or something in the film industry

43- What gives you comfort

Kit Connor and osemanverse

44- What is your current burn out obsession

Kit Connor and osemanverse

45- What's your current favorite song

ONLY RUMOURS BOUT MY HIPS AND THIGHS AND MY WHISPERED SIGHS OH LORD I THINK ABOUT JUMPING OFF OF VERY TALL SOMETHING JUST TO SEE YOU COME RUNNIN AND SAY THE ONE THING I BEEN WANTIN BUT NO @taylorswift yes its is it over now because I am a swiftie

46- How many books have you read this year

It, The Wave (for school) and uh all the osemanverse (but iwbft is about my favourite, or solitaire is cool too)

47- What's your favorite smell

Nice, smelly sort of people (sorry I had to) but um, probably the smell of Peter Alexander when you walk in there it smells like aesthetic pancakes its soo good!)

48- What's your favorite season

JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH COOLER I'LL BE IN SUMMMERRRRRR

49- What's your current read

Loveless because I literally am the physical and personality description of Rooney Bach.

50- Gold or Sliver

Gold girlie.

51- Are you more like Nick or Charlie

I THOUGHT I was like Charlie but I'm actually more Nick according to Alice's quiz

52- Favorite Fictional Character

Tori Spring

53- Who's your favourite Heartstopper character NOT Nick or Charlie

Tori Spring

54! MY QUESTION HA HAAAAA Which character fits your physical description and then which fits your personality one?

Uh, I think for me 😉, Rooney Bach is both except I'm slightly quieter than her, so surely Alice makes a loveless movie and I get to be Rooney like come on @chronicintrovert lets make it happen :)

RULES: answer all questions, add one question of your own, and tag as many people as there are questions

thank you @good-enemy for the tag <3

coke or pepsi: coke

disney or dreamworks: sorry but i prefer disney i could name maybe like two dreamworks movies off the top of my head

coffee or tea: tea because coffee tastes burnt

books or movies: books

windows or mac: windows

dc or marvel: unfortunately i am a marvel fan

x-box or playstation: i havent used either of these in years

dragon age or mass effect: what

night owl or early riser: night owl

cards or chess: cards

chocolate or vanilla: depends on the food but usually vanilla

vans or converse: docs

lavellan, trevelyan, cadash, or adaar: ⁉️

fluff or angst: angst. hurt that blorbo you know you want to

beach or forest: beach

dogs or cats: dogs by default because im allergic to cats

clear skies or rain: clear skies but like the kind of clear skies when its sunny with no clouds in the sky but its chilly out

cooking or eating out: depends on the food

spicy food or mild food: mild food bc im a picky eater and also white

halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas: hanukkah

would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: a little too cold

if you could have a superpower what would it be: telekinesis but that might just be because im a jean grey girlie

animation or live action: live action

paragon or renegade: ⁉️

baths or showers: baths but unfortunately showers are more convenient

team cap or team iron man: i hate both of them

fantasy or sci-fi: anyone who knows me knows i am the biggest fantasy lover out there

do you have three or four favorite quotes, if so what are they: idk i have a lot but i couldnt name them off the top of my head

youtube or netflix: youtube

harry potter or percy jackson: percy jackson obviously. he'd also kick harry potter's ass but thats a whole other conversation

when do you feel accomplished: when i succeed

star wars or star trek: ive seen bits of star wars so that one

paperback books or hardcover books: hardcover books because they have built in bookmarks and also theyre pretty

live in a world without literature or music: nice try but no

who was the last person to make you laugh: i dont know probably my dad

city or countryside: city i love the city i am a big city person (i dont live in a big city)

favorite chips: baked lays

pants or dresses: pants

libraries or museums: museums we have no good libraries here

character driven stories or plot driven stories: oh thats hard. probably plot but i do love a good character driven story

bookmarks or folding pages: bookmarks

dream job: music therapist

what gives you comfort: my dog. also music

what are you currently having brain rot levels of interest over: the once upon a broken heart series by stephanie garber and also maisie peters's music

what is your current favorite song: coming of age by maisie peters

(added question) how many books have you read this year?

tagging @henwilsons @napollya @thegoosewitch and whoever else is interested

[bbyannabeth]

I’m obsessed with the neighbors au 😍😍😍

last part

“you’re a coward.”

annabeth’s jaw dropped. “how?” she exclaimed, throwing a piece of the cucumber she’d just chopped at her roommate.

“he asked for your number. you didn’t ask for his,” piper said. “therefore, you are a coward.”

“i would’ve!” annabeth protested. she didn’t add that she may have needed to take a shot or three before gaining the courage to do so.

“mhm,” piper hummed. annabeth shook her head, and they both continued cutting cucumbers and tomatoes. “have you guys been texting at all?”

a smile made its way onto annabeth’s face, making her duck her head even though she and piper weren’t facing each other. it had only been a day since the party, not even a full 24 hours, and they had both sent dozens of texts. talking to him was just so easy.

“yeah,” annabeth said, her voice a little more shy than she liked. “he’s really nice, actually. really funny.”

“ooooooh,” piper sang, sliding all of the tomato on her cutting board into a bowl. “youuuu like him.”

annabeth didn’t deny it. she didn’t know percy very well, but everything she had seen of him, she liked. she wanted to get to know him more. “no comment.”

“no comment needed, bitch.”

annabeth felt her phone buzzed in her pocket and her fingers itched to check it, but she held back as she reached for a red bell pepper.

“no, i don’t think we need that,” piper interjected. annabeth nodded, putting it back and then stepping away to lean against the counter. she was fine with chopping but when it came to the actual cooking, she was not to be trusted.

this, at least, gave her an excuse to check her phone. sure enough, that notification from before was percy.

okay. can i ask you something?

annabeth bit her lip, unsure of what to make of those words. she typed out a quick reply.

anything

his reply came almost immediately, like he’d been ready to send it.

when can we hang out again? i wanna see you

im just a door away, u know

oh i know. but that doesn’t answer my question. i wanna see u again

annabeth smiled, ducking her head. he wanted to see her. without a word, she stepped closer and held her phone out to piper, who began to read. a smile grew on her face, and she looked up at annabeth, her eyebrows raising. they didn’t even need words to know annabeth’s next move.

what are you doing tuesday night?

next part

[deardarlingdead]

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒄

Morning at the Jackson's. Percy waking up on 24th December, his hair a mess and thought tangled. The Blowfis-Jackson house is a mess yet perfectly set for Christmas. Sally is cooking in the kitchen, baking cookies and cake for the night, estelle sleeping on the sofa. Percy walks up to his mother, kissing her cheek and burying his head into her shoulder muttering a muffled good morning. Sally ruffling her 6 feet baby boy's hair.

Inviting Annabeth over. Estelle letting out a happy shriek distracting Percy. "Go play with your sister honey" Percy just nodding and grabbing a cookie before Sally could tell him off. "Mom, I'm gonna call Annabeth" "Oh yes, i was worried when She wasn't here. I knew you won't forget." "Nope, he wanted to spend some time with her dad but she said she didn't, you know" Sally smiling quietly at her son. Her heart melting for Annabeth. She was like a daughter to her at this point.

Annabeth arriving. The doorbell rings and Estelle giggles loudly in Percy's arm. Percy rolls his eyes loving at her, before getting the door. Standing in front of him, Annabeth smiles at him, giving him a small kiss before taking off her court and rubbing her hands together, shivering a little. Percy pulls on a blue sweater near by, passing his scarf to Annabeth which he glady accepts. Annabeth snuggles close to him, while Paul goes into the kitchen to help Sally but not before patting their head affectionately.

What about the others? "What's Thalia up to?" Percy asks, remembering that Jason was going to spend the holidays with Leo and Piper at the Mclean's. "Why do you ask?" Annabeth asks, her eyebrows raised at her boyfriend. Percy's eyes lighting up and a grin making it's way on his face. "She owes me a pizza treat." Annabeth just bursting out laughing, she very well knew what thus treat was about. "Mom can we invite a few friends over?" "Oh dear, i was about to ask you that. You should invite your friends, those poor babies who're still at camp, we could celebrate Christmas together! They're also your family after all." Percy smiling softly at his mother, she was right, they were his family after all. He IMing Thalia first accepting excited yelling only to be greeted by silence. "Pinecone face? You there? I was asking if you wanted to celebrate Christmas with us, Mom is quite fond of you all." "That's why?" "And isn't Christmas for family?" Thalia's voice almost cracking when she says okay and hangs up hurriedly. Percy IMing the camp to invite the Stolls, Malcolm and Clarisse. All of them accepting the offer immediately, Clarisse glaring at Percy before shrugging and cutting the connection. "Well, I'll take that as a yes?"

Will dragging Nico to the Jackson's flat. Percy being shocked when Nico actually comes. Will greets him telling him how they were planning on spending the Christmas together but he had to go back to his parents house. Percy and Annabeth understand the silent message and smile. Annabeth wrapping her hand around Nico's shoulder. "Well, Nico is family too, right Nico?" Percy nodding his head vigorously. Will just smiling at them from the sidelines as Nico slowly nods, making Percy's voice audibly crack for the slightest second. Annabeth squeezing his shoulder, her eyes shining with understanding. Nico inching close to the taller girl, a very small smile in his face. Maybe he won't be alone for Christmas after all. And he doesn't feel all that lonely as Will kisses his cheek as a goodbye and walks out of the flat.

A messy arrival. Stolls almost crashing into Will just as they walk in and he walks out. "Will, Nico looks sick, did he have breakfast today?" Panic filling his mind, Will turns around about to start rambling when it clicks. "STOLLS I SWEAR TO OLYMPUS I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL WITH A EEFING SCALPEL!" Stolls just yelling "Happy Christmas eve to you too Willy!" And running into the flat, greeting Sally loudly. Percy just shrugs at Will, while a loud giggle from Estelle makes them peep in to see Travis and Connor playing with her. Clarisse muttering something about "there's my favourite Jackson kid!" While Katie yells at the Stolls to be careful. "Shh Kat-kit, We're Estelle's favourite! Right baby?" "I'M HER FAVOURITE YOU IDIOTS!" Percy yelling from outside, earning a facepalm from Nico and Annabeth. Will shuddering by just imaging the havoc about to be caused. Thalia arriving just in time to yell "Shut it you losers! I'm her favourite." While grover frowns telling her that she was wrong. "I'm her favourite, excuse you!" "Dream on Goat boy!" "Please seaweed brain." "I bring Estelle chocolates, I'm her favorite." "NICO!" Sally just shaking her head, leaning into Paul, a small smile on her face happy to know her son was at home.

"Cookies are ready!" "No kelp head, you don't all of them!" Thalia and Percy fighting over who'll go to the kitchen to pick the cookies. Nico groaning at his cousin and jumping over Percy's head, making his way to the kitchen, only be tackled by Percy to the ground. "Percy, what in the name of—" but Nico was never able to continue his string of curses as Thalia jumped on the duo lying on the ground. "Pinecone face what do you eat, holy poseidon-" "Percy you're not the one to talk" "Get off me you two!" Annabeth and Katie shaking their head at the three who lay tangled on the ground. Grover just shaking her and walking over them to take the cookies while they fought. "That's not fair!"

Movies. All of them snuggled together on the floor watching some movie Annabeth picked. Percy just leaning into Annabeth's shoulder, Nico half asleep next to him. Travis snuggled into Katie while Connor slept in a tangled mess of blankets, occasionally earning a smack from Clarisse when he got too close to her. Chris just shaking his head at his girlfriend. Grover snoring loudly on the sofa, bitting it off in his sleep.

Merry Christmas. Percy being the first one to wake up after mid night, kissing Annabeth softly, whispering a Merry Christmas. "Merry Christmas to you too, Seaweed brain." He walks around, placing the presents he brough for everyone under the tree. As he settles down between Nico and Annabeth once again, he couldn't help but smile at the tangled mess of Teenagers around him.

Opening Presents. Percy grinning as everyone opens their presents. Thalia squealing loudly at the sight of a leather jacket. "Yours was getting old" Percy shrugged, only to be tackled down by the smaller girl. Annabeth called Piper, wishing them Merry Christmas on behalf of the others and Percy. Her present safe on her finger, a promise ring that read "one day" Nico smiling to himself at the jumper Sally and Percy gave him. Stolls grinning at Katie as she opened her presents. "Holy demeter, you all got me this?" Clarisse getting teary eyed for the slightest second when Percy passed her a jar of cookies. "Mom says it makes you less grumpy." "Don't make me crash it in your head, prissy." Grover letting out a loud squeal looking at the photo album of him, Percy and Annabeth. Percy hugging Annabeth, smiling at friends, no family.

A Merry Christmas indeed.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Crimson Shadows 2

Jercy Vampire AU: Percy

masterlist; information post for fic

I was debating whether i should change traditional things like greetings but then i realised this is my fic and im writing it for purely self indulgent purposes so like i could if i wanted. Thanks for joining in on my hedonism! Please enjoy.

Perseus steps onto the creaky wooden floor of his ostentatious 16th century mansion and mentally reminds himself for the two-hundredth time that he needs to get someone in to fix it. The worst thing about being immortal, he has come to learn, is that he procrastinates everything ten times harder. At least his teenage self would be impressed with his tactics, even if his mother was rolling in her grave.

The house is unusually quiet for an Orion morning and he strains his already sonic hearing to catch the sounds of silent footfalls and bustling bodies. But the wind rushes through the space and there are no other noises. A flutter gives in his chest as he steps into the kitchen to find breakfast waiting for him and a note folded neatly next to it.

Hey Doc,

Twins have gone to Bharatanatyam class and Hoku went to the beach. I’m just picking stuff up at the grocer, be home in a jiff.

- Keeya

He releases a breath and sits down at the table with a smile. The delicious smell of eggs and blood hit him as he takes off the cover to reveal a plate of eggs benedict, hash-browns and a small glass of ichor. He shoots down the blood, content to let it work through him as he gobbles down the heavenly breakfast. He knows Keeya cooked because she was always experimenting with food, always in here creating dishes and making them beg to eat whatever is giving off that sublime smell. Just as he cuts into a hash brown he hears the door shut and hurried footsteps rushing towards him.

“To the Sun,” Keeya flurries into the kitchen, face blocked by brown paper bags stuffed to the brim with what he’s sure to be her latest concoction.

“Amongst the Stars,” His lips twitch in amusement, “Early morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep so i-” Her voice muffles as she busies herself packing items in the pantry, “-thought I’d start on breakfast but while i was looking for an eggs benny recipe i came across this golden cake and-” Her head pops out of the pantry, black eyes flashing with excitement, “Doc when i tell you i almost died right there, it sounded so good. Anyway of course i had to leave immediately to get all the things we didn’t have.” She finally collapses onto a stool across from him and takes a breath.

He hides a laugh and waits for the rest of the story, because with Keeya there is always more. 

“Anyway i get to the shop-” She starts. He covers his inescapable laugh with a cough. “And they don’t have desiccated coconut. Can you believe that? I mean it’s the main ingredient in the damn cake. So I was panicking a little because it’s the closest shop open at that time, the others I'd have to take a train for which is so inconvenient?” She gives him an incredulous look. He nods seriously; inside he is fighting off giggles. “But they found some in the back, thank the stars, and then I just grabbed a few things because it’s ‘make your own pizza’ night and I think some people from the Araw house are joining us.”

“Sounds fun, is Elouan going to be here?” He pops the last bit of poached egg in his mouth and looks at her expectantly.

She makes a disapproving face, “No, he’s off with his new partner. I don’t trust them at all.”

“Why?” Perseus is on guard immediately, fingers curling, hair sensitive, and gums stinging with the need to unsheathe his fangs. 

“Their vibe is off,” Her nose scrunches up, “Like they’re used to getting into trouble and bailing out.”

“I’ll tell Elly to be careful but maybe go with him next time Kee,” He suggests, a tentative look in his eyes as her own widen.

“All we’ll do is argue, and besides, he hates me hanging out with his friends.”

“Ever asked him why?” He has a feeling about it but he’ll never voice it. No, the two can come to their own conclusions. After all, they had forever to figure it out.

“I don’t care why. He’s a dick and I'm not interested in anything he has to say.”

He shrugs but leaves the conversation, and the kitchen, so Keeya can do her thing. He has some admin to do anyway; a dreary task but one that must be done all the same. Besides without the twins and Hoku the house is absurdly silent, so he needs something to occupy himself.

His study is actually a little desk situated in their library. It’s his favourite room in the house for the opulent fireplace that stays lit through Baridi and serves as a soot-slide in Caldu, and of course the books which although he doesn't read many of, remind him of his mother. He has been alive for almost three hundred years and there is hardly a day that goes by when he doesn’t think of her. For every part of him that isn’t human, there’s a part of her that makes him so. He stares up at the portrait of her hanging near the doorway, painted by a friend long gone and with a loving smile gets to work.

He sorts, and signs, and stamps, and notes in an endless cycle until finally his finances are in order, his donations are chequed and his letters are sealed. He’s sure Hoku will groan endlessly about receiving yet another letter under their pillow and try to explain that email is much more convenient and faster for everyone. Perseus tilts his head to the ceiling and watches the stars dance as he plays out the conversation in his head.

“Doc, I really appreciate the effort you put into sending us letters but this is not the eighteenth century, just use email.”

“Hoku i like the letters, they’re personal and calming to write.”

“Doc, emails are more convenient and i can take them anywhere.”

“Okay I’ll stop giving you letters. I’ll just give the others.”

“What? No? That’s a terrible idea. I still want my letters.”

And they would have the conversation every month without fail. It is a rather amusing part of the routine and sometimes Perseus purposefully makes Hoku’s letters a little longer, just to bother them. A secret best kept as such, but funny nonetheless.

“DOC!” A voice screams through the house, shattering his ear drums.

The twins.

He steps out of the library, and half jogs to the source of the noise, which he discovers is coming from the entertainment room. 

“To the Sun, you two.”

Serafina looks up first, her brown eyes shining with never-ending energy. The anklets on her feet jingle as she runs towards him and slams her body into his. He holds firm as he catches her and wraps his arms around her shoulders.

“Amongst the Stars,” She mumbles, face buried in his shirt.

“How was Bharatanatyam?”

She gasps, stepping out of his embrace and squealing with delight. “Doc we have to show you what we learnt! Aaru come!” Her dark eyebrows knit together as she focuses on her brother.

“Tusa Aarush.” Perseus smiles, squatting down so he’s level with the boy. A little hand, the colour of cherry wood, reaches up to give him a high-five. A standard greeting for the quiet brother; a complete opposite to his outgoing sister.

“Aaru are you ready?” Serafina comes to stand beside them, after setting up the sound system.

He nods and moves so they’re in the middle of the room. Quickly they do the opening prayer before Serafina bounces to the sound bar and presses play. The sweet, sturdy music fills the room and then they're going through a whole routine. Stamping their feet in a rhythm that matches the beat perfectly. Aarush pinches his fingers and fans them out. A closed flower opening, he recognises. They do a series of moves all impressive and beautiful, before the music fades and they pose, breathless with exertion and excitement. 

He claps enthusiastically and opens his arms for hugs. “You did wonderfully!” Serafina slams into him. Aarush gives him another high-five. “When is the performance?”

“Not for a long time Doc.” The little girl says, as if he should know this. She heads off to fiddle with the speakers. 

“In two months,” Aaru answers. His voice is clear and even. He is quiet but not soft. “In Pluto.”

“Ah, I'll make sure I have it down in the calendar.” The little boy's face lights up like a stadium and Perseus’ heart clenches with love. The twins had only been living with him for half a century but within the first year they had him completely wrapped around his fingers. Their claimed age is ten but their true age is one hundred and two. He found them shivering behind a dumpster in Orman, their skin stretched across their bones and that rabid look of underfed vampire in their eyes. He had taken them in and given them blood and a bed for the night, which turned into a week, and then a month. Before he knew it he was bringing them to this house in Roshani where they had immediately fallen in love with the city and made it their home.

“Fina, i’m going to shower.” Aarush states and without further flurry he leaves.

“Is everything okay with classes? All of them, not just Bharatanatyam.” Perseus asks the talkative twin.

“Yes,” She nods, unclipping her anklets. Her voice lowers, serious bleeding in. It is hard to forget their age, true or claimed, when this happens. Because suddenly their bubbly little girl who flits around the house and talks your ear off and throws herself into everything with the vivacity of a ten year old, disappears. In her place is the century old girl who has experienced more of life’s pleasures and hardships than most of the world can only begin to imagine.

“We’re covered for everything. And Aaru starts teaching a new linguistics course on Monday so he’ll have some cash to fling around. Although,” She rolls her eyes, “We all know he’ll just put it in his account and let it sit like a fat cat.”

He laughs, flicking her nose at her distaste for her brother’s complete lack of spending. “He likes to invest in stocks and give it away. You know he doesn’t hoard.”

“I know i know,” She grumbles, scrunching her nose, “I just wish he’d spend some on himself.”

“I think he thinks you spoil him enough.”

“I don’t spoil him nearly enough. Most times I try to buy him something and he just shuts it down. Like last Draco i tried to buy him that new puzzle he was talking about and he just slammed my laptop shut.”

She looks so put out he can't help but giggle, and when she scowls at him for it he pulls her in for a hug and kisses her head. “He likes to do things with you. Maybe try getting things you guys can do together.” She brightens at that, and he can see the gears turning in her sharp mind. “Alternatively, save up all the buying for special occasions like Birthdays or Turning or Koro day.” She hums in acknowledgement but her thoughts are still going a mile a minute so he steps out and lets her work it through.

The house is alive again: Keeya is still in the kitchen, and by the sounds of it Hoku too, begging for something. Elouan still isn’t in and he cannot stop the trinkle of worry that falls between his ribs. Trying to keep it out of his mind he walks towards the noise and is greeted by the site of countertops covered in dishes filled with all sorts of delights. The smell is enough to put him in a coma. And Hoku sits on the counter, pale blue eyes puppy-wide with pleading. He glances to their wrist and sees the sunshine yellow band. She/her today then. It gets exhausting, she had told them, to continuously have to announce yourself to the world, especially when you didn’t know how the world would react. 

“Hoku,” Keeya sighs, “I am not giving you the poli until you go and change. You smell like seaweed.” The coconut-stuffed pastry pockets sit on the counter, still piping hot from the oil they had just been fried in. 

“Awww come on Kee, i just need one. I’ll pass out in the shower if i don’t get it and then it’ll be all your fault.”

Keeya’s eyes roll so far back he’s worried she’ll get them stuck behind her sockets. But they roll forward and give Hoku a very pointed glare.

“Get your ass out of my kitchen and go and shower, you irritation!” She scolds; rendered a little ineffective by the flour smeared across her cheek which is a startling contrast to her brown-scapolite skin.

“You are the absolute worst.” Hoku sulks as she slides off the stool and trudges to the entrance. "Tusa Doc.” The sigh is heavy and he struggles to keep in the laughter threatening to spill past his lips. It is never a dull moment in the Aarde House. Perseus collapses onto the stool Hoku had just vacated and lets loose the smile he had been trying to hide. Keeya returns it with one of her own and then launches into a conversation about her latest creations.

Hours later they had moved from food talk, which made him unfathomably hungry, to her teaching, to his own escapades and ideas. She laughed as he recounted the night out he had some weeks ago and the beautiful blue-haired person he had taken a bodyshot on. But soon the sun is sinking to the city floor and the people in the house emerge from their various rooms to congregate in the kitchen, which serves as the house hangout spot. Keeya had packed most of the food away, save for a loaf of fresh bread and the poli Hoku had been begging for. She puts the kettle on and starts up the coffee machine, chattering away as she did. 

Aarush shuffles into the room and immediately takes up a spot next to Perseus. Serafina and Hoku walk in next talking about knee pains and sore feet.

“Did you guys bother to put ice packs or kinaesthetic tape on?” Keeya raises an eyebrow. They both stick their tongues out at her, and move to sit on the opposite side of the table.

“Hoku,” Aaru settles his brown eyes on her, “Will you teach me how to do the splits? My Bharatanatyam teacher says i need to learn to be more flexible.”

Hoku is already nodding enthusiastically, “Of course A, i can absolutely teach you. But you should know flexibility doesn’t come from doing the splits it comes from muscle control and ligament manipulation.”

“I read up about it but i don't feel confident enough to try on my own.”

A gleam enters Hoku’s blue eyes, “You should come with me to a ballet class. Elouan is doing piano for us next week in preparation for our concert coming up. We’ll be able to get the studio to ourselves for a little while.”

“Sure,” Aru shrugs, “Sounds fun.”

“Why didn’t you ask me for help?” Serafina tugs her twin's sleeve, looking at him with hurt in her eyes.

“I didn’t want to bother you, and besides Hoku teaches ballet I figured she’d be the best bet for me.”

Serafina looks like she’s going to say something, argue maybe, but then the last of their little household walks in and conversation drifts.

“Past the Moon, Elouan,” Perseus smiles at the oldest of the group, save for him.

A floppy smile transforms a pasty face. As he hobbles towards them, leaning heavily on his walking stick, he mumbles a round of greetings.

“How are you?” Keeya asks once he’s settled into a chair next to her.

“I could do with some food and maybe some blood but otherwise just peachy.” His moonlight white curls fall into his face and he pushes them back absentmindedly.

“Can we finally have the poli now?” Hoku glares at their baker, rebellion already flashing in her blue eyes.

“Dig in you little heathen,” Keeya shoves the plate towards her and they all descend. 

Tea and coffee are passed around as well as small glasses of blood for any of them that need it. Perseus and the twins refrain, having had their fill at some point during the day but they happily dig into the coconut pastry and drink copious amounts of coffee.

“So,” Elouan says around a mouthful of poli, “Who’s coming with me to the Red Queen tomorrow?”

“Me!” Hoku shouts immediately. Ever the party animal.

“I’d love to.” Keeya mumbles behind her tea, suddenly shy.

“No thanks.” Aarush pulls a face and goes back to stacking the knives into a precarious tower.

“Fina? Doc?”

“I have to work on stuff for varsity but maybe next time.” Serafina shrugs a shoulder, her brown eyes glazing over as her mind goes back to working a mile a minute.

“I’ll let you know after our dinner tonight. I think some of the Houses want to call a meeting tomorrow to discuss funding and housing in a few cities.”

“You should invite them along,” His white eyebrows knit together in thought, “You guys should invite anyone you want.”

“What’s got you so friendly?” Keeya gives a suspicious look.

“Arrow said they wanted to meet you.”

Her face pulls into something resembling horror, “Uh never mind i think i have stuff to do, maybe next time.”

Elouan pins his honey eyes on her and they look more like the sting of the bee than the gold of the nectar. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“I don’t trust them.” She bites out, setting her mug down with a hard crack.

“You don’t even know them. You’re just being judgmental because they’ve turned a few innocents.”

“It’s not just that Elouan,” Where he is the sky, Keeya is the earth. “They are leading you to the dens and soon you’ll be following in their footsteps.”

Perseus was content to ignore their argument and continue talking to everyone else or eating his way through the feast, but that angered whisper steals his attention. “You’ve been going to the dens?”

“I went twice and i didn't even do anything.” He rolls his eyes.

“It’s not about what you do El,” Keeya’s voice is lethal with fury, and worry. “It’s about what gets done in there.” 

“It’s not safe Elouan. Not only for you but if something happens you put a target on all of our backs. And I will not have you endangering anyone in this house just to look cool for your new partner.” There is no compromise in Perseus’ hard green eyes.

The younger vamp sees this and nods once. “I won’t go to the dens again, Doc.”

“Right now that we have that sorted,” He leaves no room for further say on the topic, “What do you need us to do for dinner before the Araw House gets here, Kee?”

He sees her hide the emotions still burning in her eyes before she claps her hands and puts them to work. And when the members of the Araw house arrive there is no lingering anger suffocating the kitchen. It is bright and loud and messy. It is home.

“Tamo, tamo, everyone!” Musical greetings come from the front of the house and a few seconds later Drew Tanaka and Charles Beckendorf appear in the doorway, as radiant and deadly as always.

Drew looks devastating in a blood red jumpsuit and a gold choker glittering at her neck. Charles has a hand wrapped around her and looks just as sinful in an emerald green suit lined with the most startling azure. His wedding band glints in the soft yellow lights of the kitchen and the two rubies encrusted in it match the band around Drew’s finger.

“Towards the Moon, old man,” Drew sits down with the grace of a dancer who has been perfecting their art for centuries. 

“Who are you calling old man?” Perseus scoffs, “I’m only one month older than you. Besides Charlie is the old man.” 

The subject in question rolls his eyes and shoves both their shoulders, flashing his fangs. His wife just laughs waggling perfectly sculpted eyebrows that suggest more than any of them are willing to interpret.

“Where’s the rest of your chaotic crew?” He motions to the lack of people that usually surrounded them.

“They’re all busy tonight, something about the Safe Haven Sound.” Charlie shrugs, “I’m actually surprised none of you guys went. It was apparently some big event.”

Hoku makes a face that means trouble. Nobody stops her. “It’s mostly for new vamps trying to enter the world. There’s a lot that can go wrong. We tend to stay away.”

Drew turns to her sharply, “Who runs it?”

“The Underboss.” Hoku makes another, more disgusted face.

“Actually,” Keeya says quietly, “It’s the Underboss’ lackey that runs it. The Underboss just owns it.”

“Ugh i hate that slimy little shit more than my ex.”

“Hoku,” Serafina frowns, “Give Luke some credit. At least he was hot.”

Perseus lets a smile loose at that. “Octavian is not ugly, he’s just ghaunt.”

“Doc,” Elouan raises a brow, “He is a ghost.”

“Literally? Aarush frowns, the first thing he’s said since their guests arrived.

“No,” Drew has a contemplative look on her face, “At least i don’t think so.”

“He was part of the Trials.” Charlie adds “That’s what i’ve heard anyway.”

Perseus shudders inwardly as he remembers those dark times. Power-hungry people, people who had no right to participate in their world, had taken it upon themselves to try and create their own supernatural creatures. It was a horrible, terrifying time for humans and duniyarall alike. They had stopped it before it had become the war it intended to be but it was deemed unethical to kill the products of those experiments. So, even today, a century and a half later, there are still Triallers- as they had been so creatively named- roaming, existing, living. For the most part they seem to be peaceful, despite being created for violence, but there are some like the Underboss’ lackey that still give an off-vibe; like feral is just around the corner, one blink away.

“How about we make some pizzas?” Keeya interrupts their conversation before they dive into what will inevitably become a two hour discussion.

“Let’s!” Serafina claps her hands, and Hoku matches her as they hop up and dive towards the fridge where cut and readied ingredients sit.

The evening is chaotic, and bright and full of laughter. They discover that between all their years of life, none of them had ever learnt how to toss pizza dough. Charlie and Keeya make a deal to go to Italy and learn before the decade is out. Drew sees the trip as a chance to get a tan in the beautiful Italian heat, and be fed delicious food straight from her husband’s hands. They make the most of the evening, a rare and peaceful one that recharges the energy in them like bolts of lightning. Perseus hasn’t felt this content in many many moons. 

Soon enough, however, it is just Elouan, Charlie, and Drew sitting on the velvet couches of their lounging area, chatting quietly as they sip various expensive liquor.

He looks at his friends, the gentle glow of the chandelier striking their features. They are beautiful. It is a warm kind of beauty, noticeable in the softness of an expression, or the happiness of a moment. They’re angelic.

“Doc?” Elouan drags him out of his quiet admiration.

“Sorry?”

“Drew and Charlie were just discussing what to do about the hotel on Palace road,” The moonlight caught in his hair ripples as he speaks. “They wanted to find out if you’d be okay with extraction?”

Perseus nods, considering the angles, the necessities

“I don’t feel it’s right to go in armed.” Charlie looks around the room, that composed intensity washing over them. “They’re children, and they’re probably scared.”

The frown between Drew’s perfect brows deepens. “I heard there’s cubs and sangrinos inside.”

“Who’s getting them food? How do they leave? What’s keeping them there?”

A loud ding sounds from someone in the room, and Elouan scrambles to reach his phone. The screen is bright in the dimly lit space and he has to blink hard to adjust his eyes, but then he lets out a curse and rushes towards the door, leaning deeply into stick as the anger worsens his limp.

“Everything okay El?”

“Just Arrow.” He waves it off, “I’ll be back before sun.”

Perseus just nods, watching as the large wooden doors slam shut behind the vampire. When he hears the front door bang, he stands, bowing to his guest in a sign of quick return and steps out of the room in search of members of their household.

“Keeya, Aaru.” He calls from the parlor.

They arrive within seconds, her with a face mask on and her dressing gown half tied, and him with charcoal smudges on his cheeks, and a loose paper in his hand.

‘Doc?” Keeya frowns, sensing the urgency in his aura.

“Elouan just stepped out to help Arrow. Please will you two trace him, make sure he isn’t going to the dens. Don’t make yourself known until you know it’s safe.”

“Armed?” The steel reflecting in Aarush’s dark eyes calm Perseus’ nerves.

“No.” He doesn’t need to cause trouble with the Underboss. “Just make sure Elouan is okay. No violent blood is spilled tonight at your hands.” The volatile expression on the little vampire’s face lessens only a fraction. They both nod at him and disappear into their rooms to ready themselves.

He goes back to the lounge, and continues his discussion with his friends. When he hears the front door close, the quiet click echoing in his mind like a drum, he tells Charlie and Drew what is happening.

Drew, ever the mother, is immediately righteous, demanding she send out some of her pack as scouts. Charlie just holds her hand and looks to him with that expression that so often graces his face: how can we help?

Perseus smiles at Drew and her anger, understanding how she feels. “It is okay Tanaka,” He reassures her. “I’ve got it covered. We should talk about the children.”

She growls, and he can hear the wolf in her throat. “You will let us know if you need help Perseus.”

“Yes,” Even Charlie looks adamant, unstoppable. “We will not be in the dark again. Not when it comes to our own.”

He breathes, and it has taken two centuries to get here. To this moment. “I will ask for help if the time comes.”

“The Underboss is holding them in the hotel, and bribing them with food to join her army.” Just like that they move onto the next problem. The next call for help.

“Well then,” Perseus grins, and it looks like the first signs of destruction, “i guess we’ll be paying the Queen a visit.”

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

Elouan my love what are you doing????? Also: Who do you think the Queen is? *sus eyes*

Tags (if you want to be added to/taken off the tag list all my channels of communication are open):

@msdrpreist; @sparkythunderstorm; @aalikun; @crazy-stupid-bean; @queen-of-demons-and-hell; @pjo-hp-things; @nishlicious-01; @spoopylucy; @larrikin-is-a-himbo; @cyra04​; @leydiangelo​; @elecsinnerz​

[vethyourhalflingmother]

Vaxmore!

• who hogs the duvet

gilmore 100%, but it doesn’t really bother vax because vax clings in his sleep & gets all his warmth by absorbing it

• who rings/texts to check how their day is going

they both do, but vax does it more often. gilmore does it when he knows vax is having A Day, but he gets a little involved in his work on average days. of course as soon as vax texts, gilmore’s on his phone grinning like an idiot & texting back.

• who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts

definitely glorious gilmore! sometimes he makes the gifts, sometimes he just finds the most perfectly obscure thing, and sometimes the gifts aren’t even physical at all; gilmore is very in-tune to what vax wants, and he’s adaptable. (on the flipside, vax knows what gilmore likes but is very indecisive)

• who gets up first in the morning

gilmore gets up and makes coffee, vax usually stumbles out of bed once he can smell it. neither of them sleep in too late.

• who suggests new things in bed

vax, and he always blushes bright red when he does so

• who cries at movies

they both do, the saps!

• who gives unprompted massages

vax, often right when gilmore gets home from work

• who fusses over the other when they’re sick

both, but in different ways. gilmore is very “is there anything you need?” & watching him like a hawk, whereas vax climbs into bed with gilmore to watch a movie & lets him fall asleep on him.

• who gets jealous easiest

vax, and he’s not very subtle when he’s jealous. gilmore sometimes gets jealous too but he’s much better at reigning it in.

• who has the most embarrassing taste in music

vax 100%

• who collects something unusual

neither. the closest thing i have to either of them collecting anything is that gilmore’s is an antique store in most of my modern aus

• who takes the longest to get ready

gilmore. vax throws all of his clothes/armor on as fast as possible. gilmore has a Look he must achieve.

• who is the most tidy and organized

gilmore

• who gets the most excited about the holidays

gilmore! he loves taking time off to celebrate & visit his family. vax is a little more apprehensive about holidays, but as the years, pass he warms up to them

• who is the big spoon / little spoon

they switch it up depending on what they each need, but most often vax is the little spoon & gilmore is the big spoon

• who gets most competitive when playing games/sports

vax

• who starts the most arguments

vax is very dramatic & therefore escalates things that do not necessarily need to be escalated. however im not sure it’s really “starting arguments” if gilmore immediately turns on his very calm voice and shuts down vax’s bullshit

• who suggests that they buy a pet

technically gilmore? (i have a whole au revolving around a pet lobster, it’s a little long to be tacked on this post)

• what couple traditions they have

-they always go to the same restaurant on their anniversary (gilmore has their table reserved for like the next 15 years)

-they visit whitestone for a couple weeks every year and they always take a day for themselves enjoy the city without their family (much to the disappointment of their nieces and nephews)

-(modern au) they take really terrible selfies whenever they travel (vax refuses to buy a selfie stick; they have a board full of all their selfies in their kitchen)

• what tv shows do they watch together

queer eye (every couple should watch queer eye together lmfao), grey’s anatomy, jane the virgin, the great british bake off

• what other couple they hang out with

when they’re in whitestone, they hang out with percy & vex, but most of the time they’re in emon, so they chill with kima & allura

• who made the first move

gilmore immediately flirted with vax upon sight lol

• who brings flowers home

vax, because gilmore likes flowers. vax doesn’t care much for them himself, so gilmore doesn’t buy them for him.

• who is the best cook

vax, just by virtue of cooking more often.

[partlycharlie-archive]

ep: things leo does; by jason grace

chapter 2. aftermath link to chapter 1

summary: 2. hey, mom? okay, there's this guy named leo, and i'm in love with him. wait - wait, you knew that already? well. fuck. wait! aha - i bet anything you didn't know he was in love with me, now did you? yeah, i thought - fuck. word count: 2,051 warnings: mention of cannibalism (not serious), mention of DDLB/NSAP, morse code a/n: valentines chapter because i’m a sucker for the babe :/  read on ao3

5. taps out messages in morse code when he thinks no one is paying attention

Two short taps. One short, one long, two short. One long, one short, two long. Rinse and repeat.

Three letters.

Jason’s sure nobody else has noticed - Leo tapping his fingers in what seems to be a random pattern is nothing new, and his eyes track Chiron’s movements with what seems to be laser focus.

He likes to think he knows Leo better, by now.

Jason thinks back on his old Morse training (“Why do I have to know this?” “Just in case.” “What the hell kind of situation requires us to tap Morse code to each other when we have fucking mouths?”) - laborious months of bullshit memorizing that he never used on quests, but damn if it isn’t coming in handy now.

Two short taps. I

One short, one long, two short. L

One long, one short, two long. Y

ILY.

Jason jerks up in his seat, avoiding Leo’s eyes when his fingers stop tapping and he glances over, obviously concerned.

Leo’s mouth quirks up into a tiny smirk - how the fuck does he manage to lift only a corner of his mouth, and still convey so much? It’s fucking adorable, and Jason hates it - and he focuses back onto Chiron, who is trotting across the front of the room with a vaguely frustrated expression on his face.

Leo’s fingers continue their tapping, slim fingers pressing coded messages into the tabletop.

Two short taps. I

One short, one long, two short. L

One long, one short, two long. Y

One short, three long. J

One short, one long. A

Three short. S

Three long. O

One long, one short -

“Alright, any questions?” Chiron asks suddenly, raising his voice to attract the attention of any heads whose heads are drooping (Jason tries not to feel guilty - fails - whatever.). “No? Alright, dismissed.”

Jason glances at Leo, who is standing up like nothing’s changed, slapping his hands on the table like nothing’s changed, brushing a hand down his jeans like nothing’s changed, turning to leave like nothing’s -

You get the point.

Okay, so Leo had spelled out ILY JASO- something. That something was either a K, a D, a Y, a C, an X, a B, or…

An N.

Was it too much of a stretch to think he might have been spelling out JASON? Zeus knows it wasn’t JASOD, anyway.

Fuck.

  6. acts like a child when he gets tired*

* leo doesn’t get tired.

“… so the chip attaches to this port -” Leo yawns, and then shakes his head to clear it up, “ - and so it becomes able to track -” another yawn, “ - the movements -”

“Leo?” Jason asks, tilting his head slowly. Leo glances up, blinking blearily (ha, alliteration) up at him.

“Yeah?”

Jason smiles fondly, unable to hold back his reaction to an evidently tired Leo.

“You look tired. Ready for bed?”

Leo shakes his head again, more rapidly this time, and his curly hair flops around with his movements. He blinks a few more times, then opens his eyes as far as he can. “Nuh-uh,” he says, with an expression like a guilty child.

Yeah, right. Even Jason’s tired, and Leo likes to call him Superman - mostly because he looks like a blond version of him, but also because he’s basically superhuman. Jason doesn’t really get tired.

“Yuh-huh. C’mon, let’s head to my cabin. It’s too late, I don’t want to wake the Hephy kids up.”

Leo shakes his head with a petulant expression, narrowing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. With arms crossed, he mutters, “Nuh. Uh.”

Jason raises an eyebrow and nods to himself for a second, fighting back an amused smile at Leo’s behavior. “Alright, you’ve got a couple of options,” he relents, watching with the fond grin that he hadn’t been able to restrain as Leo slowly relaxes, nodding with lingering suspicion still present on his face. “You can either get up and walk with me, or I pick you up. Your choice.”

Leo sighs heavily, tipping his head back and huffing out another breath through his nose. “Fine.”

Jason stands, hovering for a few seconds. He frowns as suspiciously as he can manage when Leo doesn’t stand up like Jason thought he would, instead slouching further into his seat with hands outstretched, as if…

… he wants Jason to pick him up. Of course he does.

“You’re a fucking baby, y’know that?”

Leo shrugs, a carefree smile on his face. “Yup.”

Jason sighs indulgently. “Yeah, of course you do. Alright, we’re doing piggyback, because we both know - despite how incredibly underweight you are - there’s no way I’ll be able to hold you on my damn hip or whatever for the amount of time it’ll take us to get back to the cabin.”

Leo nods and Jason turns his back to the shorter teenager, crouching on the balls of his feet with his hands outstretched behind him. As carefully as he can manage (which isn’t saying a lot, considering how fucking delirious he seems to be), Leo tucks his legs into the slots of Jason’s hips and he stands up, chuckling softly when Leo yelps behind him.

He regains his balance, though, and wraps lanky arms around Jason to rest in the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

“Good to go?”

Leo says nothing, merely nods against the shoulder he’s already starting to fall asleep on - not that Jason expected anything less.

“¡Dios mio, las luces!” he cries almost immediately, shoving his face into the back of Jason’s shirt. [t - Oh my god, the lights!]

Jason can’t stifle the chuckle that escapes him - okay, so maybe he forgot to tell Leo it was basically morning, but. Who could blame him? He’d been… distracted. By Leo. And his hands. And his hair. And his smile. And his laugh. And his -

You see? It just happened again. Totally not his fault.

Definitely.

"Sorry, love," he says, trying and failing to sound truly apologetic. (Did he just say love in reference to Leo? He’s not going to think about that.) "Afraid I can't turn these lights off."

A groan spills its way out of Leo's mouth, sounding suspiciously like a "Why not?" but with a lot more vowels, probably.

"Well," he starts, the fond amusement (he’s fond way too often when it comes to Leo, damn it) probably ridiculously evident in his voice, "there's this thing in the sky - now, don't get too excited - called the sun. Totally crazy, right? It -"

Leo's left hand knocks harshly against his temple. "Asshole."

"- even makes this wild thing called - wait for it - light! It's pretty fuckin' awesome, if I may say so myself."

Leo sighs. "You may not," he grumbles, and Jason can feel the fluttering of the other boy's eyelashes against his neck. He fights back a shiver at the surprisingly intimate feeling and tries to concentrate on getting them to his cabin.

"Hey, dad?" he murmurs, words slurred through a heavy tongue. Jason opens his mouth to answer, but -

Wait.

What?

He freezes.

Mentally, of course, because otherwise Leo would know something was up, and he was so close to falling asleep, and Jason really didn't want him realizing what he said, because it'd turn into a whole production, and Leo would never get to sleep, and then... you get the idea.

But - anyway. Back to the matter at hand:

Dad?

Is that, like, a kink thing?

Jason remembers reading up on kinks (it was a late night and too many Wikipedia articles, sue him), and he's pretty sure daddy kinks are a thing.

(Eugh. He shudders at the thought. Yikes.)

But - that didn't sound like a sexy Dad word. What would a sexy Dad word sound like? It'd probably be Daddy and not Dad, for one.

Oh, gods.

He's getting off track.

Jason decides, as any sane (teenager) semi-mortal would do, to completely ignore the last word of Leo's sentence. "What's up, squirt?"

Okay, what the fuck?

He definitely meant to say Leo, or maybe bro, as regular teenage boys do, but squirt? Gods, Jason's out of his mind.

Maybe it's because Leo's way heavier than he looks. Who knows.

"'m tired."

Jason resists the urge to fist pump the air, instead pulling Leo onto his hip for ease of motion.

"Yeah, yeah, me too. Don't worry, we're almost there."

  7. has horrible grammar when he texts (no, it doesn’t annoy jason)

[17:49] leo_valdez: wht do u want 2 do 4 dins 2nite

[17:55] jason_grace: Salmon with asparagus and rice?

[17:58] leo_valdez: damn chef grace out here [17:58] leo_valdez: yeah boi

[17:59] jason_grace: Okay, cool.

[18:38] jason_grace: Hey, Percy said he’d cook. Cool with you?

[18:43] leo_valdez: yeah np

[18:45] jason_grace: He might take a while, though, so I think we’ll be eating late tonight :/

[18:45] leo_valdez: ye its fine i ate late 2day

[22:24] jason_grace: How’s it smelling over there? I’m hungryy

[22:30] leo_valdez: lol i cant smell anything

[22:31] jason_grace: Omg lol. Do you think it’s your poor sense of smell smell or that nothing is cooking??? Haha

[22:31] leo_valdez: both lmfaooo

[22:32] jason_grace: Lol, okay.

[23:11] jason_grace: 11:11!

[23:14] leo_valdez: my wish is 2 eat

[23:15] jason_grace: Mood [23:19] jason_grace: I’ve died a million hungry deaths already. I may start to eat paper any minute. [23:19] jason_grace: It’s organic, right???

[23:20] leo_valdez: yeah totes gotta get on that #vegan #organic #freerange #localwoodonly trend [23:20] leo_valdez: ykno this shirt is made out f cotton????? thts a crop i cld totally eat this

[23:22] jason_grace: As long as you take tiny bites like a rabbit.

[23:22] leo_valdez: yeahhhhhhh [23:23] leo_valdez: i s2g im gonna eat percy if he doesnt tell me its fuckin ready soon

[23:23] jason_grace: Wait what’s s2g again? [23:23] jason_grace: Oh, nom.

[23:23] leo_valdez: swear to god

[23:23] jason_grace: Nvm*

[23:23] leo_valdez: NOM NOM I HUNGRY

[23:24] jason_grace: Lolzzzz.

[23:24] leo_valdez: thnks jace u rly gotta remind me ://////

[23:24] jason_grace: He’d probably be pretty tasty. [23:24] jason_grace: Remind you of what?

[23:24] leo_valdez: how hUNGRY I AM

[23:25] jason_grace: Nom nom nom I have no other words.

[23:25] leo_valdez: nom [mood in hungryspeak]

[23:26] jason_grace: Me nom.

[23:26] leo_valdez: i just saw th word omw and rly tht it said nom im losing my mind over here

[23:27] jason_grace: Our bellies could have been full hours ago. Savage.

[23:27] leo_valdez: ikr [23:27] leo_valdez: horrible

[23:29] jason_grace: Are tears edible???

[23:29] leo_valdez: hopefully im producing way 2 many of thm

[23:30] jason_grace: Sip slowly, I don’t want you getting full before we eat.

[23:30] leo_valdez: i gotchu [23:31] leo_valdez: trying 2 remind myself tht festus 2.0 is a living being and im not ready 2 b a murderer

[23:34] jason_grace: Oh honey. He wouldn’t be tasty. Too much fur.

[23:34] leo_valdez: u rite u rigt

[23:34] jason_grace: What were we thinking??? We know Percy well enough by now lmao. Sigh. Burp. Ugh.

[23:36] leo_valdez: im crying salmon

[23:37] jason_grace: Oh noooo why’d you have to say salmon?????

[23:38] leo_valdez: LMAOOOO

  8. loves jason grace

Okay, okay.

You gotta keep this one a secret until Jason finds his journal again, okay? He doesn’t know I took it.

I’ve read through it a couple of times, and - damn is Jace a fucking sap. It’s a pity I love him.

No it’s not, who am I kidding.

Aha! That’s the first time I’ve written it down since I realized (which was… too long ago for me to feel comfortable admitting to).

If you didn’t get that, Jason: I love you, you piece of shit.

Ugh.

Fuck, whatever, maybe this thing is a prank and he doesn’t actually love me. Maybe this is a hallucination? Dad knows I’ve been spending way too much time in the Bunker, anyways. Maybe… who knows, honestly.

God, I’m tired.

Whatever. I hope he finds this soon, I’m tired of waiting, for Christ's sake.

See you soon, hopefully.

- leo valdez, the one & only

I love you too, Leo.

[thescarhead]

Chapter 3: Grammar and Power

"Hagrid, I'm wondering, can you tell me more about the Professors?" Harry said after getting himself comfortable around Hagrid, although he didn't have the ability to eat Hagrid's cooking, while Ron enjoyed himself with pampering 'Fang,' Hagrid's hound dog.

"Well ain' 'hat a good question. Known mos' of 'hem back when I was in school. Of course, 'he Dark Arts 'eacher keeps changin' for a while now and 'he potion masters are fairly new, been aroun' for ten years give or 'ake," Hagrid said pouring more tea.

"But isn't that strange?," Ron said with mild skepticism, "why have two potion masters? Why not one?"

"Well ain' 'hat a funny story. When Professor Snape became 'he potions master, people were worried if he could handle it; given his past an' all, but 'hen Dumbledore wen' off to France one day an' came back with Professor Black, draggin' him by 'he collar; it was quiet 'he show," Hagrid said laughing at the memory.

"Of course, 'he other professors seemed even more cautious to him 'eaching, given his family matters, Black himself 'ried runnin' away whenever he got the chance, yet Dumbledore always dragged him back in 'ime for dinner. I'm not sure wha' convinced Black to stay 'hough, you'll have to ask him or Dumbledore, maybe even Snape if your lucky. 'hen pretty soon things jus' started to work out well and it's been like 'hat ever since." Hagrid said and looked at the clock.

"Blimey, it's getting late, I wouldn't wan' you two gettin' into 'rouble on your second day, now off with you, careful not to get Flinch to fin' you." Hagrid said as he ushered them out.

As much as Hagrid explained, it still left Harry in questions.

What was Professor Snape's past? Why was Dumbledore at France? Why was Professor Black so reluctant in teaching? How did Dumbledore convince Professor Black to stay?

But Harry supposed that could be a answered for another time.

———

Classes went by for the next two weeks as perfect as Harry could imagine.

Well; they went just about exactly as how Harry have imagined it.

In Transfigurations, they wrote down difficult anagrams and translations to which made knickknacks change into other knickknacks.

In Charms, they learned to use basic charms as well as learn when they were invented and why.

In History of Magic, they slept through an explanation of Greek and Roman wizards which brought muggles to reason that there were gods.

In Herbology, they learned about soil properties and there reaction to certain plants.

In Flying Class, they learned what makes a broom fly and the parts of a broom as well.

In Astronomy, they learn how to track star movements and tracing the lunar cycle.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, they learned that Professor Quirrell was scared of just about everything.

And then there was Potions...

Don't get Harry wrong, it wasn't a strange class compared to his other courses, but it was strange in its teaching style.

The first thing he does in class is place a potion in front and have the students write down what potion it is using only three clues hidden around the room.

As far as Harry was concern, only Hermione seem to like it. Then Professor Black would go off in demonstrating making a potion while the class followed along which was the normal part of class; then does something completely unexpected.

It could be anything.

One time the professor just decided that, to check if are potions worked properly, dropped eggs into the steaming cauldron which out popped a fully grown chicken, or geese and turkey if you messed up which was found out by Neville, that only lead to the school being overrun with foul of all kind. This lead to Professor McGonagall having plenty of practice trials for her class in making chickens to pillows and Professor Sprout feeding her carnivorous plants fresh meat. Not to mention, to no ones surprise, there were a lot of chicken based meals serve the next day.

Another time the Professor handle the students clay dolls to use as containers for the potion which only proceeded to make it come to life and keep trying to untie shoelaces. On course, Professor Flitwick took most dolls and used them to teach the fourth year how to use the cutting charm on moving objects while Professor Kettleburn who teaches Care of Magical Creatures took just enough to keep the bowtruckles at bay from attacking students.

It turned out that whatever potion was made was then explained after the potion was created to make sure everyone was fair game in brewing so not one knew what to expect as the final result. Then the school takes use of it and make it a never ending cycle of 'learning productivity.' At least that's what the other teachers call it.

The good that Professor Blacks tactics brought was an easing environment for the students to learn, so not anything any student, especially the Slytherin, could hate about. It came to the point that no one could ever truly hate his classes.

Of course, that is if Harry could manage to get his potions right the first time around.

"Not bad, not bad, but you can do better, I'll make a potioneer out of you yet; Miss Ganger if you could do so the pleasure in helping Mister Potter with his potion I would be oh so great full," Professor Black said as he hurried over to Seamus's cauldron which seem to be bubbling uncontrollably and quite ready to explode.

But this left Harry vulnerable.

Just as class was about to end, Draco smirked and wrote on a piece of parchment to which he soon crumbled up and threw it at Harry.

But before any piece of crumped up parchment could when get anywhere near Harry, Professor Black appeared, or in this case apparated right on time to catch it.

"Mister Malfoy, bulling will not be permitted in any house and even more so in class," Professor Black said in a calming elegant tone as he opened the crumped paper, walking to an empty chalkboard. "As wizards and witches, by stooping to such means we become nothing more then primitive creatures. If one decide to prove themselves as superior; we show this though are abilities and are skills."

Harry saw Draco's face redden with embarrassment and anger. "This does bring into account that grammar is important when writing a message, there are proper words per proper means. For example Y-O-U-R is used when describing something that belongs to you while Y-O-U-'-R-E is used is phrasing "you are." Professor Black explained as he wrote it down on the board.

"With this being said I will expect an essay 10 inches long on the potion that cures boils which can be found in your books on page 43," Professor Black said as the student started to put their items away to go to their next class.

"AND MISTER MALFOY," Professor Black said louder then needed, "If I catch you bulling or using improper grammar, after school classes will be put into order which I'll make sure, your father will find out about. Class dismiss."

——-

By the time school ended, the Gryffindors in the common room were spreading their daily gossip on the Notorious Professor Black.

"Is apparation truly that difficult?" Harry said, not really sure why everyone was making a fuss about apparation.

"It is, witches and wizards that fail in it can end up appearing to one place missing a leg or hand. Not to mention that you need a license to by allowed to use apparation," Ron explained, "But to think, he would apparate just for show?"

"He didn't just do it for show, didn't you hear any word of his lecture? He was making a statement against bulling and the truth behind power. Yet I will admit, he was able to do advanced magic without a wand and quite effortlessly if I might add, being the fact the if you read Hogwarts: A History, the schools barriers make it difficult to preform such magic, and near impossible to apparate outside or inside Hogwarts. He must be extremely powerful to be able to apparate on school grounds so freely," Hermione inputted from her little corner of books as the other first years sat in the common room next to the fireplace as they continued on in discussion.

But of course, the Weasley twins took it upon themselves to bring trouble to the conversation.

"Don't be to surprised."

"Apparatation isn't the only thing his good at."

"Every year during winter break"

"Dumbledore and Black have a duel just outside of Hogwarts grounds."

"You can see it from the great hall if you like."

"Last year, they got a little overboard and knocked down the astronomy tower!"

"No one got hurt though."

"Then they went off for ice cream."

"After an hour, they came back."

"McGonagall, sent them to the corner and made them clean up their mess."

Fred and George started laughing just thinking of what would happen this year but this did not help the first years imagination and worry of their teacher accidentally crushing them with a tower.

Percy took a moment to think of what to say to calm the situation down and took in a breath, "All the Professors at Hogwarts exceeds in their teaching fields but then we have Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Black who've excelled in multiple fields. But unlike Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Black does everything in his power to excel all forms of magical knowledge which is why his called in to teach a class when a professor is not able to make it."

"So his a bloody genius," Ron said as he slinked down into his chair.

"No Ron, his studious which is something you should be doing as well, if you end up failing a single class, mother might just turn you into a cow," Percy warned.

"Then we can name you Ro-Moo," the twins said simultaneously which got Percy to chase them around which only proceeded to give the twins a good laugh.

Extra

•Regulus is a grammer god and no one can prove me wrong.

•Bold of you to assume that Regulus wouldn't train hard in magic knowing Voldemort is still alive.

•Every winter break, Regulus duels Dumbledore to see if he could hold his ground against him.

•The last duel held for 40 minutes, with Dumbledore toying with Regulus for the last 20 minutes to see how long the boy would last.

•They destroyed the astronomy tower and then went out for ice cream and McGonagall grounded both of them.

[meowmerson]

1, 22, 34 and 35?? Pretty pretty please? ANY pairing actually, but maybe Tomione or Fremione or Regumione or Dramione? I'm just craving these particular prompts they're amazingg

(lmao sorry this took so long but anyway im picking fremione so i love you!! here we go!!)

The Weasley house always came alive at family reunions.

It had always been lively for as long as Hermione had known them, but as everyone grew older it wasn’t often that you could find all of them together at once, and there was nothing comparable to the chaos that ensued when the entire family reunited. Harry and Ginny and the kids, Ron and Lavender and the baby, Bill and Fleur and their children, Charlie and his boyfriend, Percy and his girlfriend, George and Angelina and–

And Fred.

The truth of the matter was things got hectic at the Weasley house whenever Fred came home. He didn’t come home often, or at least that’s what she heard, usually preferring to keep watch over his shop, but he was always there when she visited, encouraging bad behavior in the children and all together causing mischief. It was exhausting, because the children adored him, loved him enough to flock to his defense whenever Hermione started to nag, and she had so much to nag him for.

He was reckless and dangerous around the children, he swore without bothering to care if they overheard, he encouraged them to take part in stupid, ridiculous things like food fights and some stupid game called ‘bloody knuckles’ where they actually punch each others knuckles and the first one to show a sign of pain loses, and she knows Fred taught that game to them but none of them will fess up and Hermione seems to be the only one who cares.

“They’re just kids,” Harry said when she tried to get him to see some sense, “Things get a bit hectic on Christmas, and you know they like to impress Fred, but its fine. Let it go.” 

Never mind that Lily and James were currently sat on the living room floor repeatedly pounding their fists together as hard as they could to try to break each others fingers.

And the problem was when she tried to let it go, he only got worse. Practically antagonistic. As if he wanted her to lose her temper. As if he couldn’t bear to give her a single moment of peace over the holiday. She didn’t know why. Ginny said it was because he wanted her to pay attention to him but Hermione was always paying attention to him so she didn’t really understand why that would be an issue.

And she really was paying attention to him all the time. In increasingly alarming ways. 

It’s just that her and Fred were the only single family members left, so really it was natural for her to think about him like that sometimes. She had gone quite a long time without being with anyone, and even if Fred was childish and antagonistic and a bit crass, he was also a friend. He was tall and handsome and there was something unmatchably beautiful about the way he smiled, so sometimes she just thought–

Well, she thought a number of horrible, shameful things that weren’t use dwelling on. Best to just move on and pretend those thoughts never occurred to her in the first place. 

But ignoring those thoughts was aways more difficult when he was right there.

Her goal for the day–partly because it was Christmas and partly because she was trying to get ahold of herself–was to ignore him. All day. Just ignore everything and anything he did, no matter how ridiculous and how irresponsible, she would leave it to the others to step in if need be. So she curled up on the worn arm chair armed with a glass of Champagne (it wasn’t even noon) watching Fred hoist Lily up onto his shoulders, her tiny body wracked with giggles and her hands fisting in his hair, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from telling him to be careful. 

She didn’t miss his eyes slanting in her direction, as if he had been expecting her to say something. She fixed her eyes on James holding Ron and Lavender’s baby on the couch until she was certain Fred had looked away before she returned her gaze to him as he pranced around the room like a loon with Lilly laughing hysterically on his shoulders. He might make this all easier on her by not being quite so handsome when he laughed.

She looked away and moved to the kitchen to help Molly cook.

In the time she spent ignoring him, Fred managed to nick the pie that had been cooling in the window and shared it with the kids before dinner, but Molly had lectured him enough that Hermione didn’t even need to control herself, though she didn’t miss Fred catch her eye for a brief moment while Molly had a go at him. He also fed the children candy that had them burping up bubbles and floating toward the ceiling, he charmed one of the toy stuffed dragons to follow and attack Ron for a full hour, he slipped something into Angelina’s drink that had her and George stuck together at the lips until he finally deigned it time to separate them–though they didn’t seem particularly upset–and through all of this and far, far worse as the day went on Hermione remained resolutely silent.

She stayed silent when he told a story about a customer at the shop and called them an ‘uppity bitch’ at loud volume less than two feet away from the children. She stayed silent when he made the mashed potatoes explode as soon as they were set on the table to eat. She stayed silent when he locked Charlie and his boyfriend in the coat closet for half an hour and she didn’t even attempt to cast the counter spell to let them out. She absolutely was taking no part in his tomfoolery for the day, she would remain silent and entirely uninvolved. And she especially ignored it when he overtly stared at her from across the dinner table for the entire meal, eyes narrowed in silent contemplation. 

She kept herself in check all day. Which is why it was somewhat disheartening when she was set off by a paint fight, of all things.

She had gone all day, all bloody day without saying a thing, when Fred turned the flames on the scented candles Lavender brought into fireworks she had said nothing, when he charmed the Christmas ornaments to scurry around he house like mice she kept her mouth shut, but something about walking into the living room seeing the entire room as well as every child and even the baby covered in the paint from one of James’s Christmas presents, and Fred’s hand cupping a glop of paint and ready to throw at a giggling, splatter painted James and she just–

“Fred Weasley!” 

His head snapped toward her, his eyebrows raised in surprise and his lips slowly pulling into a bemused smile, looking somehow more devious than she had even seen him. “Granger!” He greeted excitedly, a chorus of children’s laughter around him, “I was beginning to think you’d gone mute!”

“Put the paint down and clean up this mess!” She demanded.

“Are you gonna come over here and make me?” He goaded, sending the children–who had frozen upon her arrival and were watching the two of them–into peals of laughter smothered behind their paint-soaked hands. Hermione narrowed her eyes. “Come on, Hermione,” Fred grinned, “Going quiet again? You’ve already ignored me all day.”

“You are utterly irresponsible,” She snapped, “Is it so impossible for you to spend one day at home without acting like a child? You know I don’t particularly like spending my Christmases conducting damage control for everything you–”

She got slapped in the face with a handful of yellow paint. 

The children shrieked with laughter, and Hermione  stared slack-jawed and furious as Fred lowered his hand, still stained yellow by the paint that clung to his fingers. She reached up and smeared the paint off, staring at her own now-yellow hand before raising her eyes to meet his again. He looked utterly delighted.

“Okay,” She muttered under her breath, flicking the paint off her hand and taking a deep, frustrated breath in through her nose. One of the containers of paint–much bigger than it had been when it was gifted to James, she could only imagine Fred had enlarged them all–sat on the table in front of her. She picked it up, marching across the room toward Fred who had a strange expression caught between disappointed and amused and fond. He opened his mouth, probably to say something divisive.

She dumped the remainder of the purple paint in her container right on his face.

Most of it went straight into his open mouth, so he turned to cough and spit the paint back out as the children erupted into screaming laughter. When he turned back to her it was with an expression of pure shock and bewilderment. She dropped the canister to the ground and set her hands on her hips, cocking her eyebrow up at him. She would be disappointed in herself later for sinking down to his level, for now she would appreciate the gobsmacked expression on his face.

It didn’t last long. Before she could even properly memorize the expression it melted into a grin and his hands seized her waist and hoisted her up in the air and pressed his purple stained face against her neck to smear the paint on her. She let out a startled laugh before she managed to steel her voice into something serious which only made it less threatening when she said “Fred Weasley put me down!”

He did, and for a brief moment she was surprised at how quickly he followed her direction, but he very quickly lifted her again, this time around the hips so he could throw her over his shoulder. “You caveman!” She said, pounding once on his back. From this position she could see the kids all clambering around his legs in excitement as he walked, laughing loudly and staring up at the two of them with wide, excited eyes. “Put me down!” She demanded.

He didn’t, so she tapped on James shoulder and pointed to the canister of red near the fireplace. He tittered over to the paint can and brought it to her, dissolving into excited giggles as he did so. She scrabbled at Fred’s back to lift herself enough in order to upend the bucket all over his back. 

He let out a loud shout of surprise which quickly turned into barking laughter as he let her slide back down to the ground. The paint that was still on her hands from the canister she smeared up and over his head so that it stuck to his hair. 

She didn’t notice she was smiling until his eyes flickered down to her mouth for a moment. He was smiling too, the same smile she had been obsessing over for years, but it was different somehow. It lacked all edges of antagonism or meanness as he usually had when he smiled at her. He just looked happy and a little bewildered, his hands were still curled around her waist and he was so close--

The door to the living room opened. “Whoa, what the hell--” 

Harry stood in the doorway, staring at her and Fred and then the kids and then back at them in shock. Hermione was mortified. “We’ll clean it up.” She promised.

Harry stood there for a moment, quietly taking in the scene, before he dissolved into quiet laughter in the doorway. “You kids have fun,” He said with no small amount of mocking.

“Harry stop laughing!” She called after him when he shut the door. “We’re going to clean it up! Okay,” She said suddenly, pushing away from Fred and picking up the canister. She pointed it at him. “We’re cleaning up your mess.”

“My mess?” He pressed a hand against his chest in a frankly overdramatic display of being offended, but his grin hadn’t faded a bit. “You took part in this!” 

“Come on,” She ushered the children, ignoring him, “We need to get you cleaned up.”

“Hermione!” Fred called from behind her, laughter in his voice. “Are you going to ignore me again?”

“You are impossible to ignore Fred Weasley,” She drawled. 

A quick glance behind her as she ushered the children out of the living room to clean them up told her that comment left him outrageously pleased. 

[amazing-percy-jackson]

Senior Year Chapter 1

Percy and Annabeth spend Senior Year together.

Word count: 3,263

Chapter: 1/?

Summary: Pretty much just Percy and Annabeth’s senior year at Goode High School

This is set right after BoO. 

Percy's POV

"Annabeth, I cannot believe you are going to school with me. We're going to spend senior year together," Percy said the excitement flowing out with every word. He was in Annabeth's cabin helping her pack. Not really helping her but watching her.  

"I know Percy. You've told me how excited you are for the millionth time now. I know how excited you are. I am too." She was putting all her blue prints into one pile when Percy grabbed her hand making her drop the last few.  

"No Annabeth you don't understand I might be able to stay at this school. You are at least 85% of my impulse control. With you there's no way I'll get expelled," Percy said leaning in to kiss her lightly on the lips. He knew better than to really kiss her in her cabin while three campers were there.  

"Wouldn't that be a miracle."

"We have had miracles in the past."  

She continued packing while Percy silently watched her trying to keep his excitement contained.  

______________________________________________________________________________________

Percy helped pack all of Annabeth things into the van. It wasn't very much but he knew that what she had she treasured. He packed all his things up after hers. He looked around when he loaded the last of the things and saw Annabeth at the top of the hill by Thalia's tree. He met her up there and laced his fingers through hers.

"We can come back here any time. On the weekends that is. I don't think my mom would let us come here on a school night," Percy said.

"I know. It's just that....the last time I didn't spend the winter here it didn't really go so well. Or the time before that. I just want this time to be different."

"And it will, Annabeth. We'll do it together. That's how I know it will be great." Percy kissed her cheek and pulled her to the van.

"You guys really gonna leave without saying goodbye!" They turned around to see Piper running up the hill followed by Jason, Leo, and Grover.

"I was really wanting to leave without seeing your face again," Percy replied. Piper rolled her eyes, stopping before them.  

"You're not getting off that easily, Jackson." She came to a stop in front of him pulling him into a hug which he returned. "And what's your excuse?" She questioned turning to Annabeth.  

"Percy was the one pulling me."  

"Hey!"  

"That's a lame excuse," Piper stated pulling her into a hug.

"You going to watch over the camp, right? No funny business while I'm gone. No wars. No Gods. And please no great prophecies. Okay?" Percy said looking Jason right in the eyes.  

"Hey don't worry about it. I got it. I was once a praetor, remember," Jason said grabbing Percy's shoulder.  

"I actually don't remember you being a praetor. That was before I was one right...?" Percy said, playfully pushing him away.

"Okay," Leo said handing Annabeth and Percy something that looked very similar to iPhones, "Now I just cooked these up, okay. They are phone for demigods."

"What?!?! Really"

"Yes, but they aren't like regular mortal phones."

"Of course they aren't, Leo, you made them." Annabeth said holding hers very delicately like it could explode at any moment.  

"Not like that. They can only communicate with other phones like these. I call IMPhones. They run on a different service than mortal phones. I had to talk to the goddess Iris and give her a couple offerings, but it pretty much works like IM'ing but without the drachma, and the rainbow, and the seeing the other person. See it works like other phones but instead of bouncing off of a satellite it bounces off of Iris. That's why you can only do this with other IMPhones. She said she can barely feel it bounce off of her and it's way better than having to deal with each demigod's IM personally. She likes this idea way better. And since it goes through a Goddess it is more protected so it shouldn't bring monsters. But don't blame me if they do happen to show up that's just what monsters do. So here you go as a going away present. I already put in all of our numbers and here is an extra one for Sally. I thought she might want one too." Percy and Annabeth examined their new phones. Annabeth's was grey while Percy's was blue and Sally's was white. Seemed very fitting.  

"Thank you Leo. Really, these are great. You really are a genius." Annabeth give him a hug. If she was calling him a genius than he really was.

"Yeah man these are so cool,"Percy said giving him a fist bump.  

"He even gave me one," Grover said stepping forward.  

"Seriously?" Percy said looking at Leo. He nodded.

"Not that I'll really need it. I'll be feeling all of your drama anyways." He pointed to his head. "Which brings me to my point of do's and don't. Not really any do's mostly just don't. Don't have any high school drama. I get enough of that here. Do not kill you math teacher. Do not set the gym on fire. Do not pull people into fountains, either. And for the love of the gods do not get expelled,"  Grover advised, putting extra emphasizes on the last sentence.  

"You know better than anyone that drama and trouble just seem to find me, but I will try my hardest not to get into any. For your sake, G-man. Wouldn't want my best friend being mad at me, now would I." Percy pulled the satyr into a tight hug. 

"Okay we really sure be going now guys." Annabeth said breaking up the hug. "Grover you'll watch over this place for me right. Make sure Malcolm gets the cabin where it needs to be so that it can stay the best. And if Clarisse causes too much trouble call me. And if anything, anything, weird happens tell me," she said. He nodded and pulled her into a hug. Annabeth turned around just in time to see Percy violently shaking his head and mouthing no. He stopped a little late trying to pull it off as itch on the back of his neck but gave up.  

"If a camper so much as sneezes weird you do not call us, Grover. If there is so much as a declaration of war against the camp, you do not call us," Percy said emphasizing the last five words very clearly. Annabeth hit his shoulder and pulled him to the van.

"Come on Seaweed Brain." They said one last goodbye before they climbed into the back of the van, watching them grow smaller and smaller on Half-blood hill through the window.  

Annabeth's POV

Annabeth could tell that they were getting close when Percy started to jump up and down in his seat. He seemed so excited to be home again. Annabeth wished she had a place like that. Sure she has the camp, but that's different. That's camp. The only home she has ever know yeah, but still....camp. Home to another hundred campers. Annabeth wished she had the one place like Percy has. The place she can truly call her home.  

"What?" Percy asked smiling at her "You're staring at me."  

"Sorry," she replied, "You just look so happy. I guess I haven't seen that smile in a while. That's all."  

"I am. I haven't seen my mom in what feel like forever....I guess it would be a longer time for her, though," he said, his facing dropping.  

"You called her, right? Told her that you're okay."  

"Yeah. The day after the war I called her, so about a week ago. She was so happy. Tears were streaming down both of our faces. I told her about you, too. She said she was going to be getting the guest bedroom ready for you."  

"Oh," Annabeth said.  

"What? You didn’t think you would be bunking with me now, did you? My mom loves you, but I don’t think she'll even be up for that. No matter how okay I would be with it."  

"Well I guess I didn't really think about where I would be staying."  

"You really thought you would be staying anywhere else but with me? Not with me, with me. But with us." He chuckled, obviously amused by her or himself, you could never really tell.

"I've been a little busy these past few days if you haven't noticed."  

"Yeah okay okay, acceptable. My mom seemed…almost more excited that you were coming with me than I did."  

"Awww that's sweet. I actually am really happy to see her too. I can't believe she is getting the room ready for me. She is amazing."  

"I know. I can't wait to see her." As if on cue, the van pulled into an apartment complex parking lot. Percy said a quick thank you to Argus before he jumped out of the van (before it was even stopped) and ran up the stairs. Annabeth said a thank you of her own and went to get the bags. She thought it was only fair that she bring them in since Percy hauled them to the car. By the time she got up the stairs with her bags the door was opening.  

Percy looked like he was ready to explode. She could already see the tears that were threatening to spill. They fell when arms came out of the apartment and wrapped around him. Annabeth heard him say mom the same time she heard Sally say Percy. Sally whispered "I know I should have kept you close" to no one in particular. Annabeth felt a tear trickle down her own cheek at the sight.  

Sally pulled away from him a couple seconds later, holding him at arms length to look him over.  

"You're taller," she said through tears, "and handsomer." She pushed a hand to his cheek. He leaned into it savoring the touch. The touch of his mother. The woman who has been in his life forever. The only constant he has ever had.  

Annabeth found herself wishing for another thing that Percy had.  Sally pulled him into another hug before she turned to Annabeth.    

"Annabeth, dear, I so glad you're here." Sally took a step before she realized that Annabeth was carrying the bags. "Percy don't tell me you made Annabeth carry the bags." Percy chuckled and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.  

"Sorry, Mom. I was a little excited." He took the bags out of her hand and walked into the apartment stopping for a second at the doorway before he continued.  

"Sally thank you so much for letting me stay here," Annabeth thanked, walking into Sally's outstretched arms. Sally hugged Annabeth almost as hard as she had Percy and Annabeth was more than happy to return it. Sally pulled way and held Annabeth at arms length just like she had with Percy.  

"You are beautiful Annabeth, as always. You've grown into a wonderful woman."  

"Thank you, Sally," Annabeth blushed. Percy came out again to get the rest of the bags. When he came up the stairs Argus was driving away. Annabeth and Sally followed Percy into the apartment. Annabeth saw Percy disappear into a room down the hallway. She looked around the familiar living room. A long, light brown, almost tan, couch to her left. Entertainment center with a TV and movies to her right. Ahead of her was a bar/counter dividing the kitchen and the living room. A small table was to the right of the counter. She could see down the hallway to the first door but she knew there was more.  

"Okay," Percy exhaled coming out of the room, "So Annabeth, here's the living room. That's the kitchen and-"  

"That's the hallway. First door on the right, your room. Second door on the right, the guest room. So mine, I guess. Across the hallway with the first door on the left is the bathroom. And the last door at the end of the hallway to the left is Sally and Paul's room." Annabeth finished. "I know."  

"But how though?" Percy questioned.  

"When you were gone, missing, someone had to tell Sally. And a few minutes turned into an hour, which turned into dinner, which turned into staying the night. I came quite often to update Sally. Your room smelled more like you than your cabin so..." She said looking down at her hands. Percy came to cover them with his.  

"Well now you have the real thing and you don't need to be in my room. I mean you can come in my room anytime you want," he said.  

"Only if you keep the door open, sweetie," Sally interjected. She was standing off to the side admiring them, or maybe just Percy.  

"Half-way," Percy countered. Sally gave it a seconds thought then said fine. Annabeth smiled as Sally suggested making cookies and Percy almost pulled Annabeth's arms out running to the kitchen. He sat her down at the counter and told her to watch the magic. She sat there as Percy and Sally rummaged in the kitchen. Never bumping into each other. Never reaching for the same thing. She wondered how many times they had to have done this to be so coordinated. They started making it with Sally hovering over Percy's shoulder watching him measure everything out.  

"I have done this before you know, Mom."  

"Yeah but the last time I didn't watch you, you ended up putting 1 Tablespoon of vanilla in instead of 1 teaspoon. They were awful, but somehow you still ate them."  

"A cookie is a cookie, mom. Plus is was blue."  

They continued with Percy measuring the ingredients out and Sally telling him to stop when he almost goes over. Percy would roll his eyes, but Annabeth knew that he loved every second of it.  A couple times Annabeth caught Sally staring at Percy. Looking him over, with a look in her eye that wasn't anything less than love and care, making sure he's okay. When Sally went to put the flour away Percy tried to add more sugar.  

"You better not be trying to sneak more sugar into that batter, Percy," she said with her back still to him.  

"What!!...No.... I would nev— How did you know?" He asked innocently putting the sugar back into the container.  

"You have been adding more sugar since you were a kid. I figure it out when every time you helped me make them they all varied in sweetness. I can tell when my kid doesn't follow the recipe."  

"Oh so even as a kid you couldn't follow directions," Annabeth joked from her seat.  

"Oh be quiet, you," Percy said sticking his tongue out at her. Sally hit him with a towel and told him to apologize. He looked like he was going to argue before he said a quiet sorry, his lips pulling up at the edges as he did so. Sally couldn't help but smile either, Annabeth noticed.  

Sally turned back to dough inspecting it before she gave it a nod. "Okay it looks good to me."  

Percy looked like she just committed a crime. "Uh...but..you..pfft..the... There's no blue in that, Mom! How can you say it's good?" Percy said gesturing wildly at the dough. Sally was the one who rolled her eyes this time. So that's where he got it, Annabeth thought. Sally crossed the kitchen to the cabinet above the fridge.  

"I was just teasing, Percy. Of course I wouldn't forget the blue food coloring." Sally reached up to the cabinet but couldn't quite reach the handles. She got a chair from the table and pushed it against the fridge. She reached all the way to the back moving several things aside.  

"Wait," Annabeth said as Sally got down from the chair. "You use blue food coloring all the time but it all the way in the back?"  

"Another reason why I watch Percy do everything while making cookies. I had to start hiding it from him. One time when he was 8 or 9 I left the blue food coloring out as I put the vanilla away. This was a different time from the vanilla incident. And when I turned back he had already poured half the bottle of food coloring into the dough," she said taking a moment to look at Percy, who just shrugged. She smiled endearing at him before she continued. "These had to be the bluest cookies you had ever seen. No, they were barely blue anymore more of a black, I'd say. But when they came out of the oven, he ate every single one except the one  that I had. They were just straight food coloring. You couldn't even taste the cookie anymore. But he sat there and ate them all. His lips were blue for at least another day after that. So since then I've had to hide the food coloring from him. I'm not taking any chances." They both looked at Percy was looking down at the ground as he leaned against the counter. He was rubbing his left shoulder like it hurt. It seemed like he was thinking of a very different memory.

"What are you thinking about?" Annabeth asked. He looked up coming out of the trance. "Nothing" he said as he grabbed the little blue bottle from his mom and started putting a couple drops in. Annabeth made a mental note to ask him again later. Sally stopped him before it got too out of hand. Percy turned the mixer on and watched until it was perfectly mixed.

"There now it's perfect," Percy stated triumphantly. He grabbed three spoons from the drawer and handing one to Sally and getting a big spoonful on Annabeth's and his before he handed it to her. Percy watched Annabeth as she took the first bite. Her mouth filled with the best cookie dough she had ever had, which she tell you wasn't much of a competition.  

"This is amazing," she said through a mouthful of dough and chocolate chips.  

"I know." He took his bite and Annabeth watched as his face melted into complete happiness. He hummed happily and savored the dough. "Tastes like home." He looked at Sally with a smile that said he wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here, and she happily returned it.

[what-lies-within-us]

Awakening - cont. in IM

Rachel gave a small wince at how Mrs. Weasley all but told Ginny off. She briefly wandered how a discussion involving Draco and Ginny would go. The mental image was not pretty. One fireplace later they had arrived at the burrow. And after brushing off some soot Rachel peered around the kitchen where the fireplace was, taking in her first look of the Burrow. “It has a nice homely feeling to it.” She commented with a shy smile.

“Homely is a good word for it, I think.” Mrs. Weasley agreed as the small group stepped through the fireplace and into the living room. “George’ll be sure to give you the grand tour once you’re feeling up to it. For now though, I think it would be best to set you up in Bill and Charlie’s room. You’ll be right next to Ginny, and George-” “I’ll be right upstairs in Percy’s room. Gin, help me carry these bags into Bill’s room.”

“And George? After you’ve dropped the bags off and everything could you draw me a bath? I really want to wash off that hospital smell.” Rachel called out as both siblings stated to take up the bags. That was phase one of her revenge plan. And she was going to have fun with it even if she were confined to a chair. The brunette gave a sheepish smile to Mrs. Weasley. “He’s going to hate me for making him do small tasks like that.”

“Yeah? Will you need help undressing as well?” George called back to Rachel from Bill’s room. “Gross, George!” Ginny groaned. “Can you wait at least a few hours before you try to get into Rachel’s pants?” Molly shook her head and tutted under her breath as she wheeled Rachel into the kitchen so she could start preparing dinner. “Oh, he won’t mind. He might complain but you know he would do anything you ask of him, especially while you’re healing. All you need to do is bat those pretty eyes of yours at him and you could make that boy do just about anything.”

“I intend to do just that.” The brunette said with a satisfied smirk. “And I promise I won’t use my eyes against him anymore the I would have to.” She added quickly, not wanting Mrs. Weasley to think she was somehow using her looks or charm to get George to do what she wanted. Then again she had the charm range of a teaspoon. “Is there anything I can do to help?” She asked, feeling a little strange sitting there with nothing to do. But then what could she do. Her arm was still in a sling and the wrist of the arm that wasn’t was wrapped up.

Mrs. Weasley merely looked amused as Rachel concocted her revenge for George’s stunt with her favorite bra. She knew Rachel well enough to know that the girl didn’t have any intentions of using George, but merely giving him what he deserved. Merlin knew that boy needed a taste of his own medicine, especially after all of the years of pranks and mischief she’d had to endure as their mother. “Oh no dear, you just relax. It sounds like George is setting up your bath right now.” Sure enough, a few minutes later, George finally came into the kitchen. “I’ll set up your room while Gin helps you.”

“What you’re not gonna help me?” Rachel asked, a giggle escaping her at his reaction before she nodded. “Alright then. You going to wheel me to the bathroom Weasley? I don’t know my way around your house yet and I can’t wheel myself because I don’t have my wand.” Her eyes widened as she patted her sleeve where she usually kept it. “George? Please tell me you have my wand. And if your try to prank me or make a joke about it so help me I’ll bury you alive.”

George took the handles of Rachel’s wheelchair so he could wheel her toward the bathroom. He bent down low over her and kept his voice low so that his mother wouldn’t hear him. “Would you like me to?” He smirked. “Wait…your wand?” He gasped as he stopped the wheelchair in front of the filled bathtub. “Fuck Maestro. The last I saw it, I think it was…..up your arse?”

His comment earned him a hit to the head followed by a hiss of pain since she had turned her upper body to reach him. “I’m serious George.” She grumbled as she turned back around to slowly pull her sling over her head keeping her arm cradled to her chest before slowly stretching it out. “Could you take off my head bandage for me please?”

“Ouch, watch it-” George instinctively flinched as Rachel reached around to smack him. Though admittedly, the girl was too weak to actually hurt him. “Calm down, I have it. I’ve been using it as a backscratcher.” At her request, he began to gingerly unwind the layers of bandage off of her head, letting out a small sigh of relief as he saw the that the wound there was nearly healed.

She shot him a warning glance before sighing and shaking her head, wincing slightly at the dull pain. As the bandages fell away from her head she sighed in relief, gingerly running her fingers through her hair, grimacing when they would brush against a rather tender spot. “You can leave if you want. I’ll call you if I need you.” She said with a shrug. Despite her earlier teasing she wasn’t about to undress in front of him.

“I’m taking pity on you. It wouldn’t do for your mother to kick my servant out of the house for taking advantage of me.” She smirked at him before shooing him off, playfully trying to hit him as she did. The feeling of his lips pressing to her slightly throbbing temple made her go still. She was still staring at the wall of the bathroom her finger lightly grazing the area where his lips had touched her when Ginny entered. “Hey Ginny.” A smile of sympathy was given to the red head. “How’re you holding up?”

Ginny tried her best not to seem like she was sulking, but it was difficult when so much was weighing heavily on her mind. “What’s more important is how you’re holding up,” she diverted, “How are you feeling? Are you sore? What am I asking, of course you’re sore. Maybe once you’re done bathing you’ll get to take some of those pain potions that make you go all loopy.” The redhead smiled mischievously and dipped her hand into the bath water to test the temperature. “Feels alright. Let’s get you in.”

Ginny tried her best not to seem like she was sulking, but it was difficult when so much was weighing heavily on her mind. “What’s more important is how you’re holding up,” she diverted, “How are you feeling? Are you sore? What am I asking, of course you’re sore. Maybe once you’re done bathing you’ll get to take some of those pain potions that make you go all loopy.” The redhead smiled mischievously and dipped her hand into the bath water to test the temperature. “Feels alright. Let’s get you in.”

Rachel let her rant, silently sitting in her wheel chair and listening to the girl speak. Once Ginny told her that the bath was ready she nodded and slowly started to remove her clothes, not wanting to accidentally pull on a sore muscle. With Ginny’s help she climbed into the tub and sighed as the warm water enveloped her whole body. “This geeks amazing.” She sighed, resting her head back against the tub.

Ginny assisted in undressing Rachel, helping her to tug off her sleeves and navigate her head through the neckline of her shirt. But finally Rachel was able to sink into the warm tub of water, and Ginny could only imagine how good it felt after days of laying in a hospital bed. “Imagine how nice it will be to spend the next few weeks laying in bed and bossing George around while mum serves you home cooked meals.” Ginny said with a smirk as she handed Rachel the bar of soap.

She giggled, running her fingers through the water. “Sounds like heaven.” Taking a deep breath she dunked her head under the water for a few seconds, eyes squeezed shut before emerging, her hair plastered to her head and face. She took the bar of soap and gingerly moved it across her body, being careful not to run too hard on her dis-colored skin. “I guess it was a good thing Draco Malfoy came to warn us. Otherwise I have a feeling none of us would be here.” She commented.

“….Oh. Yeah, I suppose so.” Ginny muttered in reply. She was fetching a wash cloth out of the cupboard to hand to Rachel, but her movements became hesitant at the sudden mention of Draco. “I guess that makes him a bit of a hero. No one ever anticipated that.” It felt strange to talk about him, pretending to be casual about her feelings for him when in reality, she couldn’t seem to think about anything /except/ him. She’d been visiting his flat every day since the battle, hoping he’d show up. But the boy had vanished.

Her eyes followed every movement, trying to decipher something, anything that would give her some leverage as to how deep the feelings for Malfoy went for Ginny. “I suppose it does. Do you know when he will be back?” She asked, slowly letting the warm water wash away the soap suds, sighing how clean she felt. Though her hair was still dirty despite being wet. Reaching out for the shampoo with her less injured arm she attempted to open the cap with the same hand, still feeling an ache in her other arm.

“Oh, let me-” Ginny hurried reached out and grabbed the shampoo bottle away from Rachel, grateful for any distraction from the current subject. She knelt down by the tub and poured some of the lavender-scented creme into her palm so she could assist her friend in scrubbing the stuff into her hair. “I don’t think he is coming back.” She finally muttered a minute or so later. “He’s just…gone.”

The brunette sat quietly for the next few seconds. Partly enjoying how Ginny’s fingers were gently massaging the throbbing in her head away, and quietly thinking over how everything had gone for Ginny. And with the lack of information she had, there wasn’t much to think about. “I’m sorry he left like that.” She finally spoke, turning her head slightly to look at her friend.

“Are you? George will be ecstatic when he finds out that Draco probably left the country.” Ginny wouldn’t help but mutter bitterly. “And my parents. And Harry.” It truly seemed like everyone in her life was disappointed with her. She’d made a bad decision. She’d fallen for the one person she was supposed to resent. She sighed and gave her head a small shake as she cupped her hands in the water to begin rinsing out the suds in Rachel’s hair. “But it doesn’t matter now. Because I’m probably never going to see him again.” At this, it was apparent that she girl was struggling to keep her voice even.

She kept quite after that, not know what else she could say to the red head. Closing her eyes to avoid getting any suds in them, she helped wash out the shampoo as well sighing in relief once every last bit of foam was gone and she was finally clean. “Thank you for helping me Ginny.” She said after getting out of the tub and tying a towel around her body. “I know it may seem hopeless right now, but from what is saw before I passed out, something was different about him. I may not be an expert in love or anything but how he protected you and came to you, to warn you the second he could, just shows that despite him leaving he cared for you.” She reached out to place a comforting hand on the red head’s shoulder, giving her a smile. “He did all that for you. So maybe he might come back for you.”

Ginny helped Rachel out of the bath, holding her elbows to steady her while she wrapped herself up in a towel. “Much better.” Ginny commented with a smile. “How are you feeling?” Rachel then spoke up about Draco, and Ginny wasn’t sure of what to say. She wanted to believe her words, but it was hard to trust the man after he’d told her time and time again that she didn’t mean anything to him. “Listen to me rambling about boys while you almost died a few days ago. C'mon, smells like dinners almost ready.”

Despite her best efforts Rachel let out a small snort at Ginny’s words. “Way to change the subject Ginny.” She teased before nodding. “Alright. Let me just get into my clothes. I’ll have George comb my hair later.” The brunette added with a small grin before proceeding to pull on her clothes, wincing every now and then when her body or a limb would move at an odd angle. She tried cleaning up the bathroom as much as she could too. “Lead the way then please.” She looped her good arm through Ginny’s before stepping out of the bathroom.

The redhead was glad that Rachel seemed to have enough energy to get around without the wheelchair, albeit with assistance. It seemed the shower had worked miracles on her, as though the warm water had helped loosen her joints and alleviate her pain. They piled her hair up into a towel turban on top of her head and the pair finally shuffled out of the bathroom for supper. Molly had made a large, delicious supper that was particularly decadent to celebrate Rachel’s homecoming from the hospital. Warm mashed potatoes, deliciously seasoned steak, plenty of cooked vegetables on the side, and wine for the entire table.

As she sat at the table with the rest of the Weasleys, Rachel wandered to herself when was the last time she had sat down to a family meal? Usually she ate dinner alone. She ate lunch with George sometimes since they would be at work. But if the shop was crowded she would eat in between customers. Sitting at the table with everyone laughing and smiling made her feel warm inside, yet it brought on sadness a well. And by the time she had bid everyone goodnight she was near tears, half aware of someone pushing her towards what would be her room during her stay.

Several glasses of wine helped George to feel at least a little bit more comfortable with being back at the burrow again. And having Rachel to care for was also a good distraction. However, it seemed that nothing would ever be able to make him feel completely at home at the burrow again. Not when every single inch of the place reminded him of Fred. Once they’d finished eating, the lanky redhead helped Rachel out of her chair, muttering something vague about getting her to bed as he led her toward Bill’s old room. He’d arranged her things in the room for her while she’d been in the bath, and had borrowed one of Ginny’s stuffed animals to put on the bed to make the very…male room seem just a tad bit more comforting. “What is it? You seem quiet.” He asked her as he led her to the bed.

She plopped down onto the bed, grateful to get off her feet, especially her right legs which still felt a little sore even though it was almost completely healed. “I’m alright.” She answered with a smile, before returning her attention to the bedspread, tracing her finger delicately along the flower pattern that adorned it. “I was just thinking about the last time I had a family dinner. With my grandparents and Dimitri. It seemed like so long ago. And it probably was.” She added with a small laugh, before turning to look at him. “You’re lucky to have people you can have family dinners with.” She lightly kicked her foot out to graze against his leg. “So to which famous Weasley did this room belong to?” She asked, looking around the room, eyes blinking rapidly to push away the tears burning behind her eyes.

It had been a while since he’d been in Bill and Charlie’s room. The pair of them had moved out years ago, so it was most commonly used as a guest room nowadays. “Bill and Charlie.” He responded when Rachel asked him whose room she was staying in. “That’s why there’s a collection of both quidditch posters and books on dragon breeding.” He chuckled to himself as Rachel toyed with his ankle. She suggested that he should be grateful of having his family, and the man simply nodded in reply. “I take them for granted.” He admitted, feeling a bit guilty for it. It was then that he noticed the tears welling in Rachel’s eyes, and his brow creased with concern. “Rachel, what’s wrong?”

“Sounds like quite the combination.” She muttered, though her heart wasn’t into joking or kidding around for once. Even with having him around. He was the only one to ever get her to show the mischievous side she had. Something she had always suppressed in order to let her more brainy and Ravenclaw-ish personality shine. “Nothing.” She shook her head. “I guess the medicine or whatever the Healer’s gave me is making my hormones go crazy.” She said with a laugh, wiping at her eyes, sniffing before she took a deep breath. “I’m alright.” She reassured him, hazel eyes turning up to look at him. “Really, stop worrying.”

Though she tried to convince him that she was fine, George still had his doubts. He lowered himself onto the mattress beside her, his blue eyes lingering on her face as she spoke. “Hm.” He hummed in reply, reaching up to gingerly pull the towel off of her head and let her half-dried locks tumble over her shoulders. They still smelled of the lavender shampoo. “If being here is too much to handle, we can figure something else out. The Weasley clan can be a lot to handle, even if there are only half of us right now. Just imagine what it’s like at holidays.”

She reached up to gently pulled at her hair, making sure no strands were piled on top of her head. “Its not that. Honestly so far I love being here.” She pursed her lips before sighing and avoiding his gaze she started to speak. “Its just I had forgotten how it felt to sit at dinner surrounded by people. A family. Even though its not my family, it made me miss all those dinners I had with my grandparents and Dimitri.” She shook her head, tugging lightly at her hair, as she fiddled with it. “I know it sounds stupid, but I really miss that.”

“It’s not stupid,” George assured Rachel as she played with her hair. “Of course you miss it.” He just wished that there was something he could do to make her feel better. It wasn’t as though eating dinner with /his/ family would ever fill the void that Rachel felt missing her own. And yet here he was, wishing that he could run as far away from his family as possible. “Here, let’s…get the tangles out of your hair.” He muttered as his gaze shifted to the ends of her hair. “I’ve never brushed hair before. Is there a charm for it? Or perhaps…” he paused, and it was apparent in his expression that his mind was racing with ideas for brush-related products he could sell. “A hair-eating hair brush..” he murmured thoughtfully.

She raised her eyebrow at him. “George? You know how I love all your ideas and always encourage them.” Placing a firm hand on his shoulder she shook it lightly. “But take it from me, you do not want to invent one of those. Because you do not mess with a girl’s hair. Or even a boy’s hair for that matter.” Her voice was serious as she spoke. “Now get the thought out of your head, take this brush.” She held her brush out to him. “And start brushing. It already has charm on it and untangles hair without the pulling and the yanking.”

He smiled to himself in satisfaction, already itching to get back to inventing. It had only been a few days since the battle, and yet already he was beginning to feel antsy without work. There was so much work to be done to open the shop again. The repairs themselves weren’t going to be easy and would likely take a week or so to complete. And so soon after they’d had their official re-opening….why couldn’t the damn place just stay in one piece for more than a few months at a time? Rachel was leaning against him as he brushed her hair, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her as she hummed to herself. “I wouldn’t mind.” He admitted after a few moments. “Only if you brush mine as well, though. I’m thinking of growing it out like Bill’s. Will I finally be badass?”

She let out a sigh of content as his arm wrapped around her waist giving her more support to fully lean back against him, head resting on his shoulder, her hair now partially dry and brushed. “I like your hair short. Makes it easy for me to mess up. Messing up long hair means tangles and fingers getting stuck in said tangles.” She was speaking while she was half asleep now. And clearly she wasn’t completely in her mind. “And you’re already a badass George. You made history when you left the school. That’s pretty bad ass.” She snuggled even more against him, curling up slightly as she did. “You’re warm.” The brunette mumbled sleepily.

“Well perhaps you should cut your hair short so that I can mess it up.” George proposed, as he ran the fingers of his free hand through her hair. In truth he loved her long hair, but it was still fun to tease her. She sleepily called him a badass and he chuckled to himself. “I suppose so. Still, maybe I’ll take some hair growth potion tonight just so I have have luscious locks for tomorrow.” He laid back on the bed, pulling her down with him. “And you’re falling asleep.” He commented, giving her a brief kiss atop the head. “Just promise it’s only for tonight this time, okay? No more three-day naps.”

“Just run your fingers through it to mess it up.” She muttered her voice somehow sounding irritated at his even suggesting that she cut her hair. Rachel was barely aware of him pulling her back to lie down, but she already had him to lean against so it didn’t make much of a difference to her. “Tonight.” She mumbled sleepily. “Maybe till midday tomorrow. Promise…..George.” She drifted off, her breathing even and deep as she fell asleep, tired out from her first day back in the land of the living.

Luckily for him, the wine had helped to make him drowsy. He was lucky that Rachel had let him drink at all, considering...he gave his head a brief shake, firmly reminding himself not to think about that night. "Goodnight Maestro." He hummed quietly, his arm still wrapped around her. A part of him felt like he needed to leave, but at the same time, he felt comforted by her presence. Sleeping alone in the old familiar house would be painful for him, even if he was in Percy's room. And so George simply closed his eyes, letting himself relax against the sheets and drift off with Rachel in his arms.