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"And that's my cue to leave," Harry said quickly, getting up from the bench.
He grabbed his school bag and walked pretty fast over to the Hufflepuff table where Susan Bones was definitely waving him over with a warm smile.
They sat down right next to each other, heads already leaning close together.
But even as they started talking, Percy saw both of them glance back at him and Fleur, probably wondering just what kind of serious, maybe secret, grown-up stuff the older couple were talking about now.
As soon as Harry was gone, Fleur turned a glare on Percy. It wasn't really angry, maybe more annoyed. "Do you know 'ow embarrazzed I was thiz morning?" she demanded, her voice a low hiss. "Camille 'ad t'e nerve, t'e gall, to azk me if I 'ad bed bugz in my room! Bed bugz!"
Percy swallowed hard, trying not to smile. "Sorry," he mumbled. "But I mean... come on, you sort of knew this might happen, right? After... well, you know."
"No!" Fleur hissed back, poking his arm lightly. "One or two maybe, zat I could 'ide! But not t'eze many!" Her cheeks flushed pink again just talking about it. "I tried my bezt magic to make them vaniz' away this morning, but zey wouldn't go!"
Percy chuckled softly. "Maybe you should try covering them with make-up?" he suggested, maybe not helpfully.
Fleur made a little growling sound in her throat. She reached over, grabbed the collar of Percy's sweatshirt, and yanked it down, showing the smooth, pale skin of his own neck.
There wasn't a single mark on it. "'Ow?" she demanded, frustrated. "'Ow do you not 'ave even a zingle one?!"
Percy grinned, feeling pleased with himself. "I have thick skin," he teased. She growled again, a playful sound this time. Percy couldn't help himself.
He leaned in very close, lowering his voice to a whisper right by her ear, sending a little shiver down her spine. "If you want," he breathed, "we could spend the rest of the day seeing if you can actually give me one. We could practice."
Fleur's face instantly turned bright red, all the way up to her hairline. She opened her mouth, then closed it, spluttering a little, trying to find words but failing completely.
Percy laughed out loud at her cute embarrassment. She playfully smacked his arm.
They ate the rest of their breakfast together, side-by-side, their shoulders touching. They talked about everything and nothing, mostly laughing about things that happened the night before the dancing, the flight over the lake, the cape failing.
They were sitting at the Gryffindor table, a house neither of them belonged to. But none of the Gryffindor students nearby seemed to mind or dared to ask them to move.
It was like Percy and Fleur were in their own little bubble, happy and talking quietly. Plus, let's be honest, the good-looking couple was very easy on the eyes, nice to just look at.
When they finished eating, they stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, hand in hand again. Outside, the castle grounds were covered in a thick, sparkling blanket of fresh snow. It looked beautiful and cold.
They were in northern Scotland, after all, and winter was here for real. Percy, thinking ahead, cast several warming spells on their coats and shoes, making them feel cozy warm even in the chilly air. Fleur gave him a grateful smile; the French Veela was definitely not used to this kind of biting cold.
Their boots made satisfying crunching sounds on the fresh snow as they walked towards the dark, still lake. They headed straight for their favorite spot: the big, ancient oak tree near the water's edge.
They sat down together on a patch of snow Percy magically cleared near the trunk. Fleur snuggled close against his side, leaning her head on his shoulder.
They just sat there for a while, looking out at the frozen lake, admiring how pretty and quiet it was under the pale winter sky.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she spoke first, her voice soft. "Would you... really want to be with zomeone like me?" she asked, looking out at the water, not at him.
Percy let out a short laugh. "Wow, you don't beat around the bush, do you?"
Fleur managed a small smile but didn't laugh with him. Her expression stayed serious. "No," she said quietly. "But... would you? Honestly?"
"Of course I would," Percy answered right away, turning slightly to look at her properly. He smiled gently. "Fleur, you're amazing."
"But-" she started, maybe about her Veela side, or the tournament, or something else.
"-But nothing," Percy interrupted softly, reaching up and gently flicking her earlobe, a playful habit he was starting. "Listen, Tweety bird," he said, using his silly nickname for her, "I think you're great. Really great. And yeah," he admitted, his voice becoming more serious, "I know it's probably going to be complicated, maybe hard work sometimes, with everything... going on." He waved a hand vaguely, meaning the tournament, maybe his own weird life secrets.
"But... well, I'm more than willing to give it a real shot. A real try." He paused, then added, suddenly feeling nervous himself, "I mean, if... if you want to, too, that is." He ended with a slightly shaky breath, swallowing hard.
Fleur turned her head fully towards him then, looking right into his eyes. Slowly, a beautiful, genuine smile spread across her face.
It lit up her features. She leaned forward, closing the small space between them, and kissed him softly on the lips. It wasn't a fiery kiss like last night, but gentle, sweet, like sealing a promise.
She moved back just an inch, her blue eyes locked on his, and whispered, "Of courze I do, Perzy."
And Percy swore, for the second time in less than 24 hours, his brain just stopped working. Completely blank.
Then, a second later, it exploded. Happiness surged through him, bright and warm. But right behind it came fear fear of messing it up, fear of the future.
Worry gnawed at him what would this mean? Nervousness made his hands feel clammy. And underneath it all was a strange feeling of suspense, like standing on the edge of something huge and unknown.
He had absolutely no idea what he was doing, getting into a real relationship. His heart started beating faster and faster, thumping against his ribs like a drum, until Fleur's sudden laughter brought him crashing back to reality.
She laughed, a clear, happy sound that bounced off the snowy trees. "You don't 'ave to look zo horrified, Perzy," she teased gently, seeing the wide-eyed look on his face.
The demigod let out a long breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "Sorry," he mumbled, feeling a bit foolish. "Just... nervous, I think."
"Nervouz?" she asked, tilting her head, her eyes sparkling with amusement, maybe pretending to be innocent. "About w'at?"
"Well, about..." Percy hesitated, feeling suddenly shy. "You know..." he gestured vaguely between them, "...us?" The last word came out as a bit of a squeak.
The Veela threw her head back and laughed again, even harder this time. Percy scowled, though he wasn't really angry. "Stop it!" he protested weakly.
"Can't!" she gasped between laughs. "Too funny! Your face!"
Percy grumbled under his breath, folding his arms, but slowly a smile tugged at his own lips. Eventually, her laughter died down, and they settled back into a comfortable silence, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the cold December afternoon together, leaning against the old tree.
That is, until a perfectly aimed snowball came flying out of nowhere and hit Percy right on the side of the head with a soft splat. Cold snow exploded against his cheek and ear.
Fleur looked up sharply at the sound. Percy's face was a picture of quiet, frozen rage and pure disbelief. He just sat there for a second, snow dripping down his neck, not moving.
He blinked once.
Then twice. Slowly, visibly controlling the anger that wanted to flare up. Fleur couldn't help it. Seeing his stunned, slightly furious expression, she burst out laughing again, loud and unrestrained, holding her stomach.
"Who threw this," Percy growled, the words low and dangerous. He turned his head slowly, his eyes scanning the trees nearby.
Immediately, he spotted them Juan Garcia, Cedric Diggory, and a few other Hufflepuff boys hiding not-so-well behind some bushes, more snowballs already clutched in their hands.
They saw his face, the cold anger in his eyes, and the playful grins instantly vanished from their own faces. A wave of actual fear passed through them. Uh oh.
Percy slowly got to his feet, brushing the snow off his face. Fleur was still giggling beside him, almost crying with laughter now. He turned fully towards the Hufflepuffs.
"You want to play?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm. Then his lips curved into a slightly scary smile. "Okay. Let's play."
He raised both his hands, palms facing the snowy ground around him. He closed his eyes for just a second, feeling the moisture in the air, in the thick snow covering everything.
Snow was just frozen water, after all. And controlling water, in any form, was something Percy Jackson had no trouble with at all.
The Hogwarts students gasped out loud. All around Percy, the snow began to lift off the ground. Not just little bits, but huge amounts.
It swirled in the air, gathering together, growing bigger and bigger until several massive balls of snow, each the size of a large snowman, floated menacingly in the air in front of him. He threw his arms forward sharply, like he was throwing a punch. "Attack!" he yelled.
The giant snowballs shot forward like they were fired from cannons, flying through the air with surprising speed and power.
The Hufflepuffs yelped in panic, turned, and started running as fast as they could through the deep snow, yelling and slipping. But they didn't stand a chance against Percy's snow artillery.
….
Some time later:
Hermione Granger whispered nervously to herself as she walked carefully down the main staircase from the library.
Her usually bushy hair bounced smoothly behind her, sleek and tame after whatever magic Fleur had used on it the night before. The girl had to admit, it felt strange, almost too light, but she couldn't deny it was a nice change.
As she got closer to the bottom of the stairs, near the entrance to the Great Hall, she saw several figures stumbling through the main castle doors from outside. For a moment, she just stopped and stared, confused.
The figures were Hufflepuff students, she realized, but they were completely covered, head to toe, in packed snow.
They looked like walking, waddling snowmen, growling and grumbling as they made their way into the warmth of the entrance hall, dripping melted snow everywhere.
They moved stiffly, like their clothes were frozen solid underneath the white coating.
And for one Hermione Granger, who had seen quite a few scary horror movies with killer snowmen coming to life, this sight was the absolute last straw on her already stressed nerves.
Her eyes went wide with terror. She turned around instantly, hiking up her robes, and ran away back up the stairs as fast as her legs could possibly carry her, screaming at the top of her lungs, "EVIL SNOWMEN! THEY'RE ALIVE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! KILLER SNOWMEN!"
Percy and Fleur, who had been walking calmly behind the snow-covered group, completely dry and untouched by any snow themselves, stepped forward into the entrance hall just in time to watch Hermione disappear around the corner upstairs, still screaming.
"What iz wrong wit' 'er?" Fleur asked, looking genuinely surprised and confused by Hermione's dramatic escape.
"I don't know," Percy hummed thoughtfully, watching the spot where Hermione vanished. "But I think maybe she doesn't like snowmen very much."
"We hate you, Jackson," Cedric Diggory's voice growled from inside his snowman-like shell. You wouldn't have known it was the handsome Hufflepuff champion talking, since his entire face was hidden behind a thick layer of packed snow, only his muffled voice coming through.
Percy just shrugged casually, looking completely innocent. "Don't look at me," he said cheerfully. "You're the idiots who decided to challenge the guy who is freakishly good at water magic to a snowball fight."
"There's no such thing as water magic!" Juan yelled out, his voice equally muffled and angry from inside his snowy prison.
Percy shrugged again, gesturing to his own perfectly dry clothes and then to their miserable, snow-covered state. "Then why are you guys covered in snow, looking like frosty statues, and I'm perfectly fine?" he asked reasonably. The Hufflepuffs just groaned in response.
That day went on pretty much as normal after the great snowball war. Percy and Fleur managed to find some time to talk privately for a while longer, maybe discussing more about their new 'us' situation, before they were found and cheerfully ambushed by their friends (Harry, Susan, Ron, and even a slightly calmer Hermione later on) who insisted they all hang out together. It was a good day overall, full of laughter and friends, but in the end, nothing truly huge or special happened. Just a nice day during the holidays.
The next day, however... that was going to be a day to remember for a long, long time. Because it was the day Percy Jackson made his first true enemy in the strange and often confusing wizarding world.
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If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
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