Annabeth walked the path between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, face carefully blank with a small smile and bored eyes. 

It was routine for her now, had started it the second day of school, a quick pass over where Harry Potter sat with Ron Weasley. The whole thing was to hear what they were talking about, to get her face recognized to Harry too. 

The Boy Who Lived was definitely a talker. 

So far she had learned about his hatred for Draco Malfoy, his and Ron's mutual annoyance at Hermione Granger, and about a clipping from a newspaper that apparently talked about a break-in at Gringotts Bank. Annabeth had reported, in her conversations with Percy about the whole ordeal, that the break-in had happened on the same day that the vault was emptied, and somehow it had been the vault a certain Grounds Keeper had gone to with one Harry Potter. 

That boy really needed to learn how to control his volume. Of course, to anyone but Annabeth and Percy it would have been too quiet to hear. However, when your life depended upon your ability to hear the slightest of movements in large, open spaces-as theirs so often did-you got better at picking up the quiet things.  

The demigods had talked over several ways of getting closer to Harry and Ron, the benefits of doing so or just staying back and watching. So far they had agreed to just watch from the shadows, pull strings if they thought something was going badly, so they could figure out just how these kids worked. 

Flying lessons started, the Hufflepuffs were with the Ravenclaws. 

That first lesson had been pretty rough for Percy, he had to get over years of a phobia that had been grained into his very DNA. Zeus didn't know he was here, didn't know anything about the two demigods going to Hogwarts, Hecate had assured them of that in her lengthy letter.

That knowledge didn't help much though. 

The Son of Poseidon didn't let his nerves show, slipping on his favorite mask of the care-free skater-kid. The one he had used his whole life. Annabeth still had her innocent girl-just-wanting-to-learn-as-much-as-she-could thing going. She gave him soft smiles and encouraging nods, and they both found that flying on broomsticks was fairly easy. 

They had spent so much time on pegasus that this was nothing. Trying to fly while fighting a wild animal with a very strong will was much harder than a piece of wood that listened to your touches. 

They gained House points, grinning at each other from across the rows. 

When they heard about Harry's lesson they both fought back eye rolls. But that just meant that Annabeth needed to find a way to prolong her stay next to the red and gold table at meal time that night. 

She found her way in when she saw a certain bushy-haired girl lurking around. Annabeth could tell she wanted to be friends with the two boys sitting at the table, and talking to the girl was just two birds with one stone in the blonde's own opinion. 

Annabeth touched Hermione's elbow, smiling sweetly and a bit bashfully. "Hello, you're Hermione right?" 

The girl's brown eyes lit up in recognition. "Yes, that's I. Annabeth Chase right?" 

"Yep!" Annabeth clutched her books in her arms to her chest, glancing around with a smile, ears tuned into the conversation taking place beside her. "I was just wondering how you managed to get through all the books this Summer. I heard that you answered every question the professors have asked so far." She was careful to make her voice filled with awe. Just a Ravenclaw wanting studying tips. 

Even as she heard the challenge of a duel. 

"I'm just such a bookworm I couldn't put them down." The Gryffindor gushed, happy to have found someone to talk about learning with. "Do want to study together some time? We could talk about it more!" 

"That sounds amazing! Could I bring my friend with me? His name is-" 

"Percy Jackson? The only other student with an American accent?" Hermione giggled, but she kept glancing at the scene beside them. Her mind was obviously also on the two boys snarling at the blonde Slytherin that had walked up. "I've heard of him too." 

"Well then," Annabeth grinned, her grey eyes lighting up and sparkling with what Percy would call her 'I Found Another Geek' look. "it's a plan. I'll message you about the details later?" Because the conversation was wrapping up and Annabeth knew the girl needed to talk to the boys. 

Somehow this girl was going to be important, Annabeth could just tell. 

So, with a wave, she left for her table, and shot a glance to Percy where he sat with some Hufflepuffs. Two girls, one on either side of him, and two boys, sat across from him. He winked at her, and she winked back. 

She couldn't help the grin that had formed on her face. For she knew that the number of people sitting around him would only grow as he got older. He was a cute kid, that was for sure, but when he was older he was down right gorgeous. The thought made her laugh, Percy had told her she was 'down right gorgeous' so many times she lost count. 

She guessed his mannerisms were rubbing off on her. 

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head with a fond smile, she needed to plan out how to let down those poor kids that would fall for him. Because there was no way Percy would notice it. 

Maybe she would just make a sign for him to wear around his neck; "Sorry, Off Limits." Or something. 

After dinner Percy and Annabeth talked through how they wanted to take care of the duel situation. 

Obviously it was a trap. That twerp of a Slytherin had no intention of actually dueling Harry, just wanted to set him up to get expelled. A little revenge for making a fool out of him. 

Basic one-o-one of petty revenge. 

So that night, Percy and Annabeth decided to just watch, not interfere unless needed, and track them through the castle. 

They both wore their pajamas, only because they had to trick their dorm mates into thinking that they had fallen asleep. But they both brought their wands, and one other thing. 

Annabeth had her Yankee's cap, and Percy had Riptide in the pocket of his sweatpants. 

This meant Percy hung back further from the group as Annabeth snuck up right behind them. 

They were an odd bunch. Hermione had followed Ron and Harry, unable to go back into the tower because the Fat Lady left the painting. Neville Longbottom, the kid who had made a trip to the Nurse's earlier that day thanks to a flying accident, had been locked out too so he tagged along.

Percy watched their rear, a body guard that wasn't seen or heard as he ducked from pillars to alcoves to curtains. The group of Gryffindors where very loud, their footsteps and low chatter enough to set Percy on edge and Annabeth to roll her eyes at the amateurs.  

Not even Percy, Annabeth thought, was this loud and unaware of himself when he got thrown into the world of myths. 

Once they got to the trophy room, Annabeth stayed inside with them as Percy scouted around. Filch appeared with his cat, and Percy slunk back just hoping the others would hear the old man. When he heard running, loud and clumsy running, he knew they had heard. 

Percy took off after them, making sure to try and get Mrs. Norris's scent trail of them mixed up as he went. 

Things only got worse when Neville and Ron tumbled into a set of armor and Harry shouted to run. Percy let himself have a second to facepalm to himself before running after them. He saw the group struggle with the door, saw the slight glimmer in the air that meant Annabeth was right behind them, before ducking into a room himself. 

"Alohomora." His whispered, not even really speaking-just breathing out the unlocking charm. He strained his ears, listening to Peeves and Filch, then a pause . . . Then running and panting again. Percy ducked out of the old class room, about to take off after those stupid wizards-when a hand on his shoulder held him back. 

Annabeth took off her hat, a look of 'we need to talk' on her face. 

So Annabeth told him. Told him that in that room was a three-headed dog. That it was guarding something in a hatch. 

"Okay then." Percy breathed, scanning the hall again. "I bet this has to do with the break-in. And this means we need to amp up our surveillance on those four, mainly Harry, Ron, and Hermione though."  Annabeth nodded along. "Now lets go make sure those idiots make it back to their tower then see if we can actually sleep tonight." He flashed a grin at the blonde beside him, she grinned back, before taking off.