Heroes at Hogwarts

forty-seven | first aid with Will Solace

annabeth

The wind shifted.

Annabeth had been trained from a young age to notice things like that. With Jason around, though, wind shifts didn't bother her anymore. They used to mean danger. Now they meant a friend. So she kept her head down, arms holding the stack of books, and weaving through the people in black robes all around her, Leo, and Calypso. 

A hand grabbed hers from the crowd. Silena, with Ginny in tow. Good. With Silena's whole word crashing back in on her, she needed support from the others. She couldn't get it from Beckendorf, so she got it from Ginny, another girl yanked from her boyfriend's life. 

The two girls joined them with smiles to Leo and Cal, but Annabeth still looked down. 

Silena's hand sat on her shoulder. The older girl, despite their similar ages now, had helped raise Annabeth. Her and Beckendorf were like her older siblings. She knew Annabeth's emotions inside out, better than the blonde girl could. That was part of being a child of Aphrodite. She knew others too well. Annabeth took her hand as they walked on. 

The wind shifted again. Annabeth sighed. Jason must have been practicing quidditch. With Harry gone, Ginny had taken the captain position and taken Jason as the second. They were a good team, not as good as Harry and Ginny, but good. 

Cal's hand found her books, taking half of the weight from Annabeth. She smiled at the girls, and laughed when Leo smiled back. 

"How are you holding up?" He asked.

Annabeth was a little taken aback by that. Leo wasn't one to notice others feelings, or question them. He was the glue that kept them together, the person they could smile and laugh with, but not who they went to when they had issues. His soft eyes told her he wanted to know, wanted to help. She smiled. "Better, now that we know..." In all honesty, they didn't know what they knew.

"We'll get them back," he said. He dropped his head. "I don't want to promise, you know...but we'll find them." 

Annabeth smiled at him. "Thank you, Leo." 

He took the rest of the books from her, leading them into the school. McGonagall stood there, watching as they went by, a steady reminder that none of them were safe. She was to keep tallies, when and where she saw each member of the team. Who they were with, what they were doing. The people got to Percy Jackson, a veteran and leader of two wars. They got to Harry Potter, a protected and unknown son of Poseidon. They could get to anyone. 

Something else gleamed in McGonagall's eyes. She nodded them over, her smile wide. "I'd say, Hagrid's hut seems lovely today, right?" 

Ginny went to ask what she was talking about, but Annabeth caught her. She'd heard the hint. "Thank you, Professor," she said. 

The old woman just nodded. 

"What was that?" Silena asked.

Annabeth turned them around, back out the doors, down the hill. The others followed, Silena's hand still in hers, a comforting gesture. Ginny took her other side, Calypso on her right and Leo by Silena. They walked like a wall, and people parted before them. Annabeth expected them to. The American students came. Harry Potter and one of their own disappeared. People knew to be frightened. 

Jason, Frank, Piper, and Nico joined them. "Get the message from McGonagall?" Nico hissed to her. She nodded. 

"Wonder what it is," she mused. Maybe some new books, some animal Hagrid found that could be a monster. 

The wind shifted again. Three times, a lucky number in Greece and Rome. Annabeth's spirits lifted, hoping the wind wouldn't change again. Then she realized Jason was right next to her. "Jason," she said, "is that you changing the winds?"