"Hermione?"

The teen in question looked up to see Harry, the real one, hovering at the entrance of her room.

"Harry! Come in. How are you?"

He smiled as she scanned his profile for injury, finding none. In fact, the bags that had sat so heavy under his eyes seemed to have faded. The imposter, Percy, had been true to his word.

When the stranger had leaned in and whispered, she had expected him either to vanish into thin air or grab her wand and kill her where she stood.

He had done neither of these things, leaning back with a glint of amusement in his eye. "But you're clever girl. I'm sure you could have figured that out, " he'd said. " I'm from the land between the raindrops, Ms. Granger. I'd like to make a deal. As you know, we fae always keep our word."

Hermione had, of course, read the stories of mortals who made deals with otherworldly beings. Some such stories were told in history class as fact. The unfortunate mortals never came out on top. Those who broke even were considered lucky. Or lawyers.

But the fae had smiled at her with his sea green eyes that glowed ever so slightly in the darkness, and had ruffled her hair like one would a child. "How about you keep me informed about any danger you feel the need to throw yourself into. Tell me if you plan on storming the enemy, okay? I could always provide some backup."

He had looked at her like he knew something she didn't, and Hermione tried not to feel embrassed for something she hadnt done yet.

Unfogging The Future had said that fae, like centaurs, had their own methods of seeing the future. Did he already know exactly what this year would entail?

"And what of Harry?" she asked.

"He'll wake up tomorrow in his bed, thinking he's slept better than usual. He won't worry about it, really. In fact, I image he'll be grateful."

"I don't imagine anyone is grateful for someone taking their place."

"Well, that's why he won't know about it, will he? I'll be seeing you soon, Ms. Granger. I made a promise to protect all current students, and I plan to keep it."

He had then vanished in a shower of gold that had coated her hair and clothes and made her sneeze.

"Fine, " said Harry, " just seeing if you were up. Breakfast is ready."

The boy who lived vanished downstairs, something light in his step.

After a moment Hermione got changed and followed. The residents of the house were already digging into their food.

"Oh, you look like you didn't sleep at all, dear." Molly said, both motherly and disaproving."You didn't stay up all night, did you?"

"Sorry, Mrs.Weasley. I couldn't sleep."

That was the truth. She had spent most of the night after her impromptu meeting with the fae reading everything she had on them.

Twice.

"Well, you weren't alone," Sirius said. "You won't believe who showed up at Hogwarts last night."

"Who?" one of the twins asked, mouth full of eggs.

"A trope of fae showed up on the grounds last night. Dumbledore had to go and meet with them."

Hermione felt her blood run cold.

"Fae?" Ron asked, oblivious to her internal panic.

"Fair folk, hidden one's, little people. They have a lot of names. They're nature spirits who are extremely powerful and mischievous. They can travel the paths between their world and ours to travel anywhere, warded or not," Hermione said, reciting the words she had burned into her brain.

"That's right. Best of all the Ministry can't touch them," Sirius said. "Not without starting a war at least. Dumbledore says that they will be staying at Hogwarts in exchange for lessons on their kind and protection from death eaters." Sirius grinned. "In other words, the Ministry can't even make a fuss or the fae will get upset."

Mrs. Wesley bit her lip. "Don't fae take children? Is it safe to have them near the school?"

Sirius shook his head. "When it comes to wizard kids, they only take wandless ones. Why, you'll have to ask. But the students are safe."

Hermione felt herself let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Well, that good," Ginny said, looking excited.

"You said, mischievous?" Fred asked.

"How mischevious?" George added.

Sirius grinned. "They make us look like amateurs in magical pranks."

The twins looked like they just found religion.

All in all, it was gearing up to be a very interesting year.

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

Emmie, a first year, looked over the edge of her boat, straining to see the castle sooner. Her brother had talked all about it when he first began going, and she was excited enough that she hadn't heard the professors cautions. Besides, even if she did fall, she loved swimming.

"Careful!" Professor Grubby-Plank yelled from the back of the procession. "You don't want to-"

Emmie's boat jolted and she fell forward, the weight of the robes absorbing the water suddenly making this nothing like her swim lessons.

The old professor cursed as the children screamed, speeding up her boat as Emmie tried and failed to latch onto the wooden edge. Her panic sped up her breathing and she choked on the murky water as she inhaled, sinking quickly as she frantically kicked at the robes dragging her down.

Something rippled near her in the water as she looked to the surface, watching the moonlight fade as exhaustion seemed to sink into her bones and the bubbles from her lips slowed.

A jolt flowed through her, air suddenly rushing through her lungs as hands grabbed on to her, stopping her decent and leaving her gasping in air as the water stilled around her.

Are you alright?

She turned to see a pair of glowing green eyes watching her from a few inches away.

Don't freak out. Hold on. Let's get you to the surface.

The owner of the eyes began to shift her until he was holding her bridal style, kicking off towards the surface.

She realized the strangers lips hadn't been moving just as she broke the surface.

They continued to rise until they were completely free of the lake, her rescuer walking across the water before crouching next the boat with the teacher, completely unconcerned as he defied the laws of science and magic.

Emmie could see him clearly now, glowing green eyes and dark hair that remained completely dry. She reached up, slightly dizzy, fisting his emerald shirt so she knew he was real.

"Lose something?" he asked softly, lowering the first year into the professor's boat.

"Yes. Thank you, Percy."

Percy smiled. "No probs. Just be careful. I won't always be close enough for Steve to call. See ya."

He grinned at the first year and the water began to ripple, forming a wave that he surfed back to shore.

"Who's Steve?" the boy who had shared Emmie's boat asked.

The professor, Grubby-something, sighed. "The squid."

------------
"Everything all right?" Clarrisse asked as Percy landed on the shore.

"Yeah. Just a first year taking a swim. Steve asked me to help since last time he tried the wizards panicked."

Clarissa raised an eyebrow. "Steve makes Scylla look friendly."

"Not Charybdis, though."

Clarissa gripped her spear and nodded. "Nothing can make that monster look friendly."

Annabeth came over, looking amused. "The Apollo kids finally decided on a song. Nil Se'n La."

"That's not Greek."

"No schist. Apparently when you want to fake being fae, Celtic Woman is the way to go." The lieutenant groaned. "Problem is they wrote a lot of songs over the years. I had to veto Tir Na Nog, of course. Ended up in a blind shootout."

"This is why your my favorite Lieutenant," Percy said, smiling.

"Hey!" Clarrisse protested. "I was a good lieutenant.

"I distinctly remember you beating up every one in an argument about where to eat out and the last man standing got to pick."

Clarisse shrugged. "It was effective."

Percy and Annabeth laughed. "All set?" Percy asked.

Annabeth grinned wickedly. "Let's go introduce ourselves."

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Fanart by HamiltonTrashPanda.  May your sword stay sharp. The gods pleased and the monsters with runny noses.