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"Fleur, I told you, we can make it work," Percy insisted, holding her gaze, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"But 'ow?!" Fleur cried out, her voice laced with frustration and a hint of desperation. She pulled her hands away from his, gesturing with them as she spoke. "I want to be with you, Percy, more than anything! But I do not know 'ow! Tell me 'ow we can do it! Give me a solid plan! What are we going to do after school? What are you going to do? What is your big goal in life?"
Percy blinked, thrown by the intensity of her questions. He had never really thought that far ahead. "I... I guess I do not really 'ave one big goal," he admitted, feeling a bit foolish. "I just... I just want to live until I am at least thirty, I guess."
Fleur's eyes narrowed slightly, not understanding. "T'at iz not a real goal, Perzy."
"It is if you are the son of a nature spirit, like me," Percy tried to explain, his voice a bit quieter now. "Usually, people like me... we do not live until we are even sixteen. Let alone get to be twenty, or older. So, I guess I never... I never really got a chance to imagine what a long future would be like for me. It always seemed... out of reach."
Fleur's expression softened immediately. The anger and frustration in her eyes melted away, replaced by a deep understanding and a touch of sadness.
She reached out and gently cupped his cheek with her hand, her thumb stroking his skin softly. She leaned in and kissed him gently, a tender, loving kiss.
"Oh, my love," she whispered against his lips. "I understand now. I understand your pain, I truly do. But... if we are going to be serious about this relationship, about us, then we really need to 'ave some kind of plan for the future. I can wait for you, Perzy. I can easily wait a year for you to finish school 'ere, zat is not a problem at all. But... I just need to know, deep in my 'eart, that there is a future for this relationship. That we are building towards something real."
Percy sighed, leaning into her touch. He knew she was right, in a way. "Alright... alright," he conceded. "What do you think I should do then? What kind of plan?"
Fleur smiled, a hopeful light returning to her eyes. "Well," she said, "my father is a very important man in ze French Ministry of Magic. I am absolutely zure 'e could very easily get you a good job at Beauxbatons Academy, maybe as a professor or an assistant, if I asked 'im to."
Percy raised an eyebrow, looking surprised and not entirely thrilled. "No."
"What? W'y not?!" Fleur asked, looking genuinely confused and a little hurt by his quick refusal.
"Because," Percy stated bluntly, "I cannot speak French well enough to save my own life! Let alone teach a class in it!"
"Percy, you are being far too overly dramatic," Fleur said, though a small smile played on her lips. "I 'ave been teaching you French for ze past month now, and ze little bit you already know is actually pretty good. You are learning fast."
"I sound like a confused monkey trying to kiss a donkey's backside when I speak French," Percy grumbled, unconvinced.
Fleur snorted, a little chuckle escaping her. "Well," she teased, "at leazt you can zay zat much in French correctly now."
Percy just grumbled under his breath again. "Plus..." he added, "I do not really think I am cut out to be a teacher. I do not 'ave the patience for it."
Fleur sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. "Fine... okay, not a teacher zen. But Perzy," she looked at him seriously, her blue eyes pleading, "you 'ave to t'ink of zomet'ing. Anything. I just need to know that we can actually exizt as a couple after school ends. That there is a real 'us' to look forward to."
Percy did not want to admit it to her then, not out loud, but hearing her words, seeing the worry in her eyes, made his heart ache.
A small, selfish part of him wondered, Wasn't this enough? Wasn't he enough just as he was? What more did she want from him? His biggest goal in life had always been just to survive, to live past the age of sixteen, which, against all odds, he technically had already done.
But now... she was talking about jobs, careers, a future that stretched out for years. He honestly did not know what he could possibly say to reassure her.
And every time they talked since that day, Fleur never failed to bring the topic of their future up. Every time he invented a new, useful potion in his hidden workshop, Fleur would tell him he could be an excellent Potions professor, maybe even better than Snape.
Every time he took her flying on his back in his pegasus form, soaring through the sky, she would mention how much money a professional Quidditch chaser could make, and how amazing he would be at it. Percy was really, truly starting to get irritated by it all.
He loved her to bits, he knew that with absolute certainty. He would do almost anything for her. But she just did not seem to understand.
This life he had now, this relatively peaceful existence at Hogwarts, it felt like a precious gift, a blessing from Time itself.
For the first time in his memory, he felt truly free from the constant demands and dangers of the Olympian gods and everything else from that chaotic divine world. And he just wanted to enjoy this freedom, this peace, for as long as it lasted.
She did not understand that deep, desperate need for simple peace in him. But... he also knew, with a sinking feeling in his gut, that if push really came to shove, if she truly insisted, he would probably end up doing anything she asked of him. It was a sad thought, but it was probably true.
….
19th of March:
It was on the 19th of March that something of actual significance finally happened, something to break the monotony.
For all the sixth-year students at Hogwarts, specifically for those who had already turned seventeen or were going to turn seventeen very soon, Apparition classes had officially begun. And Percy, for one, was very, very excited about it. More excited than anyone else, probably.
"Come on, people! We are going to be late! Move it!" he cried out, practically dragging his entire year batch of Hufflepuffs along with him as they hurried towards the Great Hall.
"I really do not get why you are so incredibly excited about this," Gordan, another Hufflepuff, said, rolling his eyes as he jogged to keep up. "It is just Apparition. Popping from one place to another."
"Yeah! Exactly! And if I learn how to do this, I can finally teleport myself wherever I want!" Percy cried out, his eyes shining with an almost manic glee.
"Do you 'ave any idea 'ow long I 'ave been waiting to learn this skill?! Since I was twelve years old, that is 'ow long!" He thought to himself, a dark, vengeful grin spreading across his face, 'Stupid gods, always teleporting away and making me walk everywhere! Now I will finally get even with those arrogant fuckers! I will pop in and out of their temples just to annoy them!'
"Honestly, Percy," Heather, a girl from his year, said, also rolling her eyes as they neared the Great Hall doors. "You are acting like learning this is going to change the entire world or something."
"Hey! It could!" Percy argued passionately as they finally entered the Great Hall. All the long house tables and benches had been completely removed, clearing out a huge, wide-open space for them to practice in. "This is so incredibly exciting!" he breathed, looking around with anticipation.
"Alright everyone, quiet down now, gather around me, please!" called out a new voice. Standing in the middle of the cleared space was an old-looking wizard.
He wore oddly colored robes though, Percy had to admit, that was not all that different from most everyone else in the wizarding world.
He had thin, wispy eyelashes that seemed to disappear into his pale skin, and he looked so incredibly light and fragile that Percy thought a strong gust of wind could probably blow him away like a dry leaf.
The Hogwarts students quickly gathered around the instructor. They were soon joined by a batch of students from Beauxbatons Academy and another group from Durmstrang Institute. Percy guessed they would all be taking these important Apparition classes together, probably to promote inter-school unity and such noble stuff.
Percy scanned the faces of the Beauxbatons students, looking for Fleur, but he could not find her anywhere among them.
He guessed that meant she probably already knew how to Apparate, being a seventh-year. A wide, mischievous grin spread across Percy's face.
He was so going to ask her to give him private tips and help him cheat the absolute shit out of this class!
"Hello all, and welcome," the wispy wizard said, his voice surprisingly firm. "My name is Wilkie Twycross, and I will be your Apparition instructor for today. Now," he took out his wand and gave it a little wave, "if you please..." With his wand movement, dozens of brightly colored hula hoops suddenly appeared, hovering in mid-air all around the room.
"...please stand before a hoop, one student per hoop, and we may begin the lesson."
The class was... interesting, though if Percy was being honest, it was also a little bit... literal. And surprisingly simple in theory.
There were not any complicated rules to memorize, or specific spells to chant, or intricate wand motions to perfect.
You just... did it. You were expected to simply will yourself to teleport from one spot to another. Sure, Mr. Twycross talked a lot about the three important 'D's' of Apparition Destination, Determination, and Deliberation but those felt more like general guidelines than actual instructions.
In the end, it seemed like successful Apparition relied mostly on raw magical power and sheer grit and willpower.
And guess who just happened to have all of that in absolute spades?
Percy stood before his assigned hula hoop, his green eyes fixed on it with intense focus. He carefully followed Mr. Twycross's instructions, picturing his destination inside the hoop, feeling the determination, and deliberating on the action.
Then, slowly, deliberately, he began to spin around on the spot, just like they were told. He did not really expect anything much to happen on his very first try. Most people took weeks, even months, to get it right. But just then-
Crack!
A loud cracking sound, like a whip snapping, echoed through the quiet hall. Percy stopped spinning, feeling a strange pulling sensation. He looked down and found himself standing right in the very middle of the hula hoop. He had moved about ten feet.
Mr. Twycross, who had been over helping Fred Weasley (who had managed to Splinch half his eyebrow off), stopped mid-sentence and immediately ran over to Percy's side.
He looked down at Percy inside the hoop, then up at the demigod's surprised face, his own mouth hanging wide open in pure astonishment.
"Y-you... you did it!" Twycross stammered, pointing a shaky finger. "And on your very first try! In all my years of teaching, I've never seen anything like it!"
Percy blinked, looking around. "I did...? Huh. Well, damn..." He paused, then a small, slightly disappointed frown crossed his face. "...That was surprisingly anticlimactic."
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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.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016